Hasta La Creative!

Between 1997 and 2003, you probably fell asleep to psychic Miss Cleo telling you, in her upbeat Jamaican accent, that she could predict your future during her infamous Psychic Readers Network infomercials. Now, this April Fools’ Day, the pitchwoman is back. But instead of reading tarot cards, she’s trading makeup tips.

Miss Cleo is now apparently shilling for the Benefit Cosmetics Flawless Friends Network, a hotline that compliments your look. And this time, your calls to her number, 1-844-SO-FLAWLESS, won’t cost you $9.95 a minute. While she gets it makes fun of her most famous role, she’s totally on board with the prank. 

“Laughter is truly the best healer,” she tells AdFreak. “It’s the best way to celebrate. I love to laugh. I think that if anybody takes themselves too seriously, you run the risk of missing out on a lot of wonderful things.”

Don’t believe her? You can also hear testimonials from Shannen Doherty and Joey Lawrence, who make cameos in the ad. (As for me, I’m a firm believer in Miss Cleo’s predictive power. The psychic told me I’m a sensitive soul on my third life, which gives me the ability to take a concept and make it happen at top-level quality. Totally true.)

CREDITS
Client: Benefit Cosmetics
Vice President, Brand, Digital Marketing: Nicole Frusci
Executive Producer, Director: Claudia Allwood
Creative Director: Adriana Parada
Audio Producer: Laurin Hicks
Talent Casting, Management: The Eighth Floor Communications

Video Production Team
Producer: Danny Skarka
Scriptwriter: Brandon Snider
Postproduction Supervisor: Blake Padilla
Motion Graphics: Jimmy Giliberti
Los Angeles Director of Photography: Lew Abramson
Los Angeles Audio: Tom Curley
Miami Director of Photography: Gianfranco Bianchi
Miami Audio: Jeff Alex Thomas
Editor: Loren Sorensen

Hotline Production
Scriptwriter: Janie Stolar
Sound Engineer: Dexter Paulino

Talent: Cleo Harris, Shannen Doherty, Joey Lawrence

Hotline created by IfByPhone, Chicago
Recorded at Aesthesia Studio, Los Angeles; Graphographics, Miami
Edited at DigitalCore, San Francisco

Vinny Guadagnino of Jersey Shore stars as a well-endowed yoga hunk in this decidedly unique Benefit Cosmetics spot for They're Real! mascara. The ad opens to hunky dude ogling, which is oh so trendy right now. But it wastes no time focusing right on their man candy, as all the ladies around them become visibly excited. Then the men reach into their pants and pull out … a handful of mascara tubes to toss to the women—delivering the message that their bulges might be fake but your lashes could be nice. Or perhaps the message is the tagline: "Laughter is the best cosmetic."

The agency, Portal A, also roped in actor Simon Rex (aka Dirt Nasty) and Vine-famous comedian Brittany Furlan to round out the cameos. Benefit is doing exactly the right kind of things to draw attention to its tiny, feisty brand, but the spot doesn't go quite far enough to be funny or outrageous. Vinny, in particular, comes off as inexplicably suave as he winks in tree pose. Maybe they should have just let Brittany make five six-second Vines and call it a day. Her Vines about the spot are hilars.