The ad starts off like many others online that feature celebrities demonstrating beauty products. In this case, the popstar is Tate McRae and the brand is Neutrogena.
McRae, seated on a private jet headed to Chicago for the Lollapalooza music festival, demonstrates her “postshow routine” by ostensibly using several Neutrogena items to remove her makeup and moisturise her skin.
There’s just one problem: McRae appears to barely touch her face with the products.
In the TikTok video, which has been viewed at least 18 million times, a makeup wipe grazes her skin, seemingly leaving her face as made up as when she began, and a moisturising cream is applied with an ultra light touch.
Viewers of the sponsored video were quick to criticise what they described as disingenuousness.
“Girl, be careful,” a popular comment read. “It almost touched (your) skin.”
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Several social media users went a step further and filmed parody videos, pretending to remove makeup in a dramatic fashion. Some of the most popular variations received millions of views.
Carly Knowlton, a gym teacher and social media manager in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, filmed her own version. While she considers herself a fan of McRae’s music, she said, she was “shocked” by the video.
“You definitely get the vibe that she does not use those makeup wipes on the regular,” she said.
Knowlton echoed a sentiment described by many commenters and parody creators who felt that influencers and spokespeople for brands had a duty to be honest with their fans and followers (McRae became a brand ambassador for Neutrogena in 2025).
“If you’re going to take a brand deal, be genuine,” Knowlton, 25, said. “If you don’t like the product, don’t take the brand deal on.”
McRae’s video was reminiscent of marketing moments past, in which efforts to make products seem enticing went awry and created the opposite effect.
In 2019, actor Millie Bobby Brown apologised after posting a video, in which she washed her face with products from her own vegan skincare and makeup line and miraculously still had a perfect look at the end of the clip.
In 2018, actor Shay Mitchell gave a similar performance in a video for Biore, seemingly holding the products inches from her face while using them.
The gaffes aren’t limited to spokespeople; last year, the CEO of McDonald’s made waves when he took the world’s tiniest bite of a new burger on the menu.
Representatives for Neutrogena and McRae did not respond to requests for comment.
Samantha Molina, a 34-year-old licensed aesthetician in Mahomet, Illinois, said that she worried about “children that use skincare products and the Sephora kid movement”, and that they might feel pressured to purchase skin care products they don’t need.
She thought McRae’s ad posed an “ethical” issue.
“If you have that sort of position of power and influence over your audience and society in general, I would feel that you should try to address things in a very straightforward way,” she added.
“Like, ‘This is what I do’ and ‘This is what I don’t do,’ so at least people know that a product works or doesn’t work.”
Tavia Tran, who also made a parody video, said she was surprised McRae’s video had been posted.
“Part of the thing that made me laugh is that, with ads like that, it’s not like Tate McRae just, like, posts videos from her TikTok,” Tran, 30, said.
“It’s very likely that went through a number of PR people or managers.”
Eva Finn, a marketing professor at Chapman University in Orange, California, said it was the lack of realness in McRae’s video, and other marketing fails, that bothered audiences.
“Their biggest thing that’s so important to them is that these influencers and content creators be authentic,” Finn said of young people, particularly Generation Z.
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Dina Mayzlin, a professor of marketing at the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business, said the video lacked a core element of what makes some influencer content successful.
“Typically influencers are seen using the product,” Mayzlin said.
“Whether it’s eating at a restaurant or staying at a hotel, you know they are visibly using it. Whether or not they use it long term is less clear, but at least they’re using it for the moment.”
While Mayzlin said that McRae’s video was “embarrassing for her and the product”, she added that it probably wouldn’t be a continuing problem for the company, citing research showing that even negative publicity can help brands.
“Now we’re talking about Neutrogena wipes with The New York Times, and that’s probably not a product we would usually discuss,” Mayzlin said, adding, “If anything, it will probably increase the awareness.” – ©2026 The New York Times Company
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
