A mission to show up in spaces other brands overlook inspired a community-centered ‘eyes.lips.fairgrounds.’ campaign
Whether it’s providing a maker space that encourages girls to study STEM, or supporting the only female driver at the Indy 500, e.l.f. Beauty thrives on permeating “beauty deserts”—the spaces and communities that companies, particularly beauty brands, tend to overlook.
That’s where state fairs come in. In August, e.l.f. became the first beauty brand in two decades to show up at the Minnesota State Fair, where it enticed 64,000 visitors, who spent an average of eight minutes inside its footprint.
In October, the company headed south to build on the success of its “eyes.lips.fairgrounds.” campaign in Dallas at the Texas State Fair.
“It goes back to [the mantra] ‘Disrupt norms, shape culture and connect communities,’” says Patrick O’Keefe, chief integrated marketing officer at e.l.f. Brands. “[State fairs are] the beauty desert. It’s where we want to hang out… It’s been 20 years since a beauty brand showed up to Minnesota, specifically, and we wanted to be there—and we should be there. We need to be there.”
Unlike typical pop-ups or sponsorship activations, the large-scale fairs attract multigenerational crowds with shared traditions, and e.l.f. found a way to weave itself into the scene by seamlessly blending a community ritual, a pop culture trend and its own products… through the power of the pickle.
Indeed, attendees of the Minnesota State Fair, alone, eat an annual average of 2.1 million pickle chips. Meanwhile, data from Circana shows that pickle-flavored snack sales have grown 30% over the last year.
Then, there’s e.l.f.’s viral, pickle-inspired Glow Reviver Melting Lip Balm that sold out in eight minutes in early 2026, which was revived in August in the form of three new limited-edition pickle flavors.
Inside the Activations
Together, the pickle trifecta inspired e.l.f.’s briny state fair activations and the 10-foot-tall pickle jar installation, which functioned as a gashapon machine that dispensed cosmetics, that anchored them.
Attendees could visit each footprint, which replicated a fairgrounds food stand, for free giveaways, including the lip balms, Fine as Fleck Glitter Eyeshadow, and, for the first time at a major consumer activation, e.l.f. Hair products. And activities like fair-themed BINGO encouraged visitors to keep engaging.
In Minnesota, the company also wrapped a series of gondolas on the fair’s famous Skyride in lip balm branding and QR codes. And in Texas, where its activation was strategically located in front of the Cotton Bowl Stadium, e.l.f. debuted its Suntouchable Invisi-Stick, and added the product to its lineup of giveaways.
Getting Executives On-Site
In addition to employing traditional brand ambassadors, e.l.f. brought executives from its own staff to engage with fair attendees, and to get their honest takes on which of its products are resonating (or not). O’Keefe was on-site, as were the heads of e.l.f.’s experiential and entertainment divisions, to capture feedback and talk to consumers about what the brand stands for.
Livestreams that Bridge IRL and URL
The brand didn’t forget fans at home, either. Twitch Live broadcasts hosted by creators were streamed from the fairs, as were TikTok Live Shopping broadcasts featuring product bundles and merch for sale.
“The TikTok Shop [livestream] is the first time we’ve ever sold at an event,” O’Keefe says. “It was definitely an experience for us to unlock and learn from.”
Measurement and Future Moves
According to O’Keefe, the campaign was a resounding success from both an IRL and digital perspective. (For instance, unique views were up 610% over the brand’s highest-performing livestream content.)
To assess the program’s overall impact, e.l.f. will evaluate figures like livestream viewership numbers, loyalty program sign-ups, and the quantity of products distributed, as well as the brand’s marketing mix modeling data.
But the beauty-desert crusade is far from over. Among upcoming efforts, e.l.f. will return to Missouri in December as the beauty sponsor of the Wonder Women VIII Tournament wrestling competition. More work with the NWSL, PWHL and Billie Jean King Cup is also on its way. The scenery changes; the mission doesn’t.
“Talking to [fairgoers], they were just so grateful that e.l.f. was there and that they got to meet the team behind the brand. And that’s so important,” says O’Keefe. “We have ‘zero distance.’ We want to connect with our community on a deeper level. These are places and spaces that no one is showing up. And we want to be there for them.” Agencies: The Bait Shoppe; eGen.
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