Maybelline New York has created digital ambassador May to promote its new Falsies Surreal Extensions Mascara.
The cosmetic giant’s first avatar will feature in the campaign, which “merges the real and virtual worlds”, alongside global brand ambassador Gigi Hadid.
"When a mascara delivers a transformation as surreal as this, it takes something just as surreal to introduce it,” said Shivani Shah, SVP of Global Brand Experience at Maybelline New York.
“That is where May comes in."
Shah described the campaign as highlighting the mascara's properties “in a fun and unexpected way".
The L’Oréal-owned brand will use May in the release of future virtual products and services too.
Metaverse-related activations and campaigns of high-performance make-up franchises will be included.
The digital ambassador is Maybelline New York’s latest foray into the metaverse.
The cosmetic company released branded beauty looks on avatar platform Ready Player One last year.
The brand also dipped its toes into Web3 by sponsoring ‘Fashioning Masculinity’, a virtual fashion competition.
NARS is another beauty company that has launched digital brand ambassadors inspired by its products.
Avatars Maxine, Chelsea and Sissi are visual representations of the make-up brand’s best-selling Powermatte Lipsticks.
Prada also opted for a digital ambassador for its Candy perfume campaign.
Described as being "born from a glitch", avatar Candy is said to have been inspired by Prada's target TikTok generation.
Meanwhile, many of the faces of China’s beauty industry are now virtual idols and it looks like these digital influencers are here to stay.