Maybelline stunt on London transport tricks internet

New York-based beauty brand Maybelline scored a marketing hit this month, with viral clips of London’s public transportation looking its best.

Two videos over the past week caused a stir online and were reposted across countless accounts. A Tube carriage and a red double-decker bus, both London icons, had giant lashes installed for Maybelline promotions.

Who’d have thought that all of Maybelline’s collaborations with beauty influencers would be outperformed by an anthropomorphised train?

But Londoners should not go searching for any giant eyelashes just yet.

Lashes in London

In the popular video a Tube train pulls into a station to have its oversized lashes swept back  by a mascara brush, promoting the Maybelline Lash Sensational Sky High product.

A signature London bus gets a similar treatment above ground from a Sky High brush attached to the side of a building. 

One social media user described the campaign as “some of the coolest advertising ever seen”, while another said it was “genius”.  The Instagram post has over one million likes.

Unveiling Maybelline’s CGI trickery

The marketing team at Maybelline has upskilled lately, employing hyper-realistic animation to impress and bring these stunts to life. That’s right, unfortunately these eyelashes are not real.

Most people didn’t seem to notice that they were animated. The company has also been showing futuristic buses cruising through New York, with posts hinting that it was up to something.

“All it takes is a few coats to take your lashes on a ride to a surreal world,” the Maybelline caption reads.

Connecting to the physical world lends the brand a local connection. In a time of restricted budgets and hesitant consumers, out-of-home advertising is one area that is seeing strong growth.

Recently, outdoor advertising net revenue grew 11.9 percent year-on-year, according to the Outdoor Media Association which accounts for nearly 100 percent of the Australian industry.