MAC Cosmetics Launches Day of Giving to Further Annual Viva Glam Campaign
MAC Cosmetics is taking its annual Viva Glam campaign a step further this year.
Rather than introducing a limited-edition lipstick collection to raise funds for organizations supporting equal rights, the brand will launch a Day of Giving on June 9, during which 100 percent of all lipstick sales will benefit LGBTQ and women’s rights organizations.
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All lipstick sales made online and at freestanding MAC stores (excluding lip glosses, balms, palettes and primers) will count toward the effort.
“Opening up [the campaign] this year to include over 200 shades of lipstick in all sizes, allows us to broaden our reach and have interesting conversations with even those consumers who may not be aware of Viva Glam,” said MAC’s senior vice president and global chief marketing officer Aïda Moudachirou-Rébois.
Launched at the height of the AIDS epidemic in 1984, Viva Glam sought to raise funds for organizations supporting the LGBTQ community through annual limited-edition collections. The first face of the initiative was RuPaul, and the brand has since tapped prominent pop culture figures like Lady Gaga, Rihanna and Mary J. Blige to front the campaign and collaborate on limited-edition sets.
To date, Viva Glam has donated more than $500 million to grantees such as the Hetrick-Martin Institute and the Los Angeles LGBT Center, and in 2019 the brand expanded the program to benefit women’s rights organizations as well.
Last year, MAC trialed its Day of Giving in the U.K., raising $60,000 over a 24-hour period and prompting the brand to go global with the initiative, this time with the aim of raising $500,000.
“[$60,000] was massive for that market — we need to evolve our initiatives so they can be as impactful, and as breakthrough as they were when they were first born,” Moudachirou-Rébois said.
In March, the brand refreshed its 30-year-old Back to MAC sustainability program, partnering with Close the Loop and Plastics for Change to optimize its packaging recycling processes and support plastic collection workers.
“These issues have changed and evolved over the years, and the technology available to improve on these issues has also evolved — we have the ability now to touch more people,” said Moudachirou-Rébois, adding that 2024 will mark both the 30th anniversary of Viva Glam and the 40th anniversary of MAC’s founding.
“From 1994 to 2023, Viva Glam is still the most important part of our brand — that has stayed the same,” Moudachirou-Rébois said.
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