“This Is Very Normal”: How Jennifer Coolidge and e.l.f. Introduced the World to the Dirty Pillows Lip Kit

When the Dirty Pillows Lip Kit first launched in September of this year, it sold out faster than a speeding vespa on an idyllic Italian road. But that should come as no surprise - after all, the plumping lip kit from e.l.f. is the result of a collaboration with none other than Jennifer Coolidge. 

Having caused a splash at the Super Bowl with an iconic dolphin impression in the cosmetic brand’s ad, the White Lotus star has since joined forces with e.l.f. to launch a new product line all of her own. 

And, watching the ads promoting the Dirty Pillows Lip Kit, there’s no mistaking the decidedly Coolidge tone they’ve adopted. Behind the camera of these spots was director Mary Dauterman, repped by Imposter. 

To learn more about the offbeat ads, and how they so perfectly captured the comedic essence of Jennifer Coolidge, LBB caught up with Mary…

LBB> Mary, did you come into this project with a vision in mind - and if so to what extent do the finished spots align with it? 

Mary> When I heard “Jennifer Coolidge” “lip kit” and “e.l.f.,” I knew the aesthetic of these spots had to be glamorous, cinematic, and luxe. I wanted to up the drama wherever we could with lighting and set design, and then let Jennifer do what she does best. I think it worked!  

LBB> It's amazing how some performers can get into a zone where everything they do is electric. It feels like all Jennifer Coolidge needs to do is look at the camera and we're already smirking! How do you facilitate or elicit that when you're on-set as a director? 

Mary> One of the most important parts of directing is casting. And working with someone as genius as Jennifer is such a good example of a performer making the whole dang thing WORK. 

It’s really a dream when actors know how and why they are funny and are in full command of that talent. It makes my job easy – I don’t have to worry so much about “getting them there”, and instead I get to do my favourite thing with an actor: play, iterate, and crack each other up. When everyone’s laughing, it’s working. And we were cracking up a lot on this one. 

LBB> The Dirty Pillows Lip Kit is based on a quip from Jennifer herself -- while filming behind-the-scenes content during e.l.f.'s Super Bowl shoot last January, she joked that if she were to make a lipstick, she'd name it Dirty Pillows. In what ways does that naturally influence the tone these ads have gone for, do you think?

Mary> There’s definitely an air of ridiculousness and playfulness to the whole thing, starting with the product even existing in the first place. That e.l.f. and Shadow, the agency, really went with it and launched the full lip kit just shows their sense of humour and ingenuity. 

LBB> Oh, and we have to ask - how was working with Jennifer Coolidge generally?!

Mary> First of all, working with her was absolutely a career highlight for me! I felt so lucky to have the time and access to her for brainstorming in prep – her brain and ideas are just beyond. There are about 40 other ads I wish we could make involving ghosts, and deep sea diving, and yodelling. Also she is very kind to everyone on set - not to mention glamorous and cool and brilliant. And vegan! 

LBB> You've mentioned that the process felt more like filming a TV show or film than a commercial. What did you mean by that? 

Mary> This was a really special campaign because the comedy was so foregrounded. We weren’t making something that featured wall-to-wall product, or needed to hit every RTB and sales message. That meant the storytelling was much more important than your typical ad. We talked about this feeling more like a series than a campaign, and you know what? These lip kits sold out! Comedy works, folks! 

LBB> Building on that, there's definitely a sitcom vibe to more than one of the spots (I'd watch a whole episode about Lily-Anne and Dale's story, for sure). Is that a result of you guys approaching it as a TV show, would you say? 

Mary> After Jennifer met Grace and Eric, she decided to name their characters, and that layer of detail just immediately made the world richer and stranger. The general approach for this spot was that Jennifer would be ruining their wedding by making it all about herself, and within those guardrails we absolutely developed a full sitcom worth of material. I could - and maybe even should - make a half-hour director’s cut for that one. It gets even more uncomfortable, if you can believe it. 

LBB> What was the biggest challenge you encountered over the course of putting these spots together? 

Mary> As is almost always the challenge: schedule. We shot these 4 spots over the course of 2 days. It would have been such a dream to get to live in this world for longer, but ultimately we did a LOT in a very short amount of time. 

LBB> And how did you overcome it?

Mary> I knew I wanted maximum time with the actors, and sacrificing time to a company move was not an option. So we were very smart about our locations and production design. We were able to keep our footprint fairly small, so that by the time we were wrapped with one spot, we could walk right into the next world.

LBB> Finally, is there anything that you'd do differently if you had your time again? 

Mary> I think it’s impossible not to learn something new on every job. And if I could do anything differently, I would have walked down the townhouse stairs more carefully so I wouldn’t have fallen on my ass in front of Jennifer Coolidge.