Urban Decay may like it raw, but the citizens of the internet feel otherwise. The L’Oréal-owned company is popular among teenagers, so when they launched their recent collab with OnlyFans star Ari Kytsya, the backlash was swift. Pearl-clutchers everywhere were melting down over an ad that dared to pixelate instead of pretend.
Ari Kytsya is an American beauty influencer with a double résumé. She’s into makeup artistry and is also one of the stars of OnlyFans who specializes in adult content creation. The adult entertainer initially rose to fame on TikTok and Instagram with her beauty content. Her bold, high-impact looks were the star on mainstream social media, and her OnlyFans developed almost in parallel as she built her sex-positive brand. She’s known for having frank conversations about her sex work and for embracing both sides of her brand without apologizing for allowing them to co-exist.
As a brand, Urban Decay has always flirted with controversy. Their shade names, provocative ads, and punk-inspired ethos have set them apart from the get-go, and their new campaign is no different. The “anti-bland” campaign is built on TikTok videos with pixelated shots hiding any naughty bits and the tagline “UD likes it raw,” a nod to the fact that makeup is for all occasions. Yes, all occasions. Including those that occur on mattresses. At more than 18.5 million views, Urban Decay has proven once again that controversy thrives in the algorithm era.
While Urban Decay may be reveling in the attention their new campaign is receiving, someone made a call to mom and dad at L’Oréal. As Urban Decay’s parent company, L’Oréal has in their influencer Value Charter that pornography isn’t allowed. Oops. Penny East, the CEO of the Fawcett Society, has called out the harm Urban Decay could be doing to the young consumers who are drawn to their bold products. East says that Urban Decay’s collab with an OnlyFans star is glamorizing sex work to young women who might not yet realize how tough the adult entertainment industry actually is. Critics far and wide are crying “hypocrisy” for L’Oréal allowing Urban Decay to court sex-positive clout while still keeping “respectability” in the language used in their official values.
L’Oréal has defended their actions, and the marketing benefits are hard to ignore. The outrage pouring in just keeps Urban Decay trending and in front of more eyeballs. The TikTok numbers alone prove that Urban Decay has hit their engagement goals with this one as they’ve wobbled on the tightrope between old-school brand safety and the current preferred trend of authenticity.
To close out this saga, I want to remind readers that sex workers have always been the early adopters, testers, and innovators in beauty trends. False lashes, elaborate manicures, contour becoming popular with more than drag artists? Sex workers are behind each of those things. Excluding them from campaigns because they’re not ashamed of the work they do isn’t just hypocritical—it’s a bad bet for companies who are very aware they’re the consumers driving the bulk of their sales. Urban Decay is fully aware of who’s buying their shades, so why would they shy away from letting a rep from their best consumer base take front and center? Pearl-clutchers, if you’ve got a problem with a sex worker repping your kid’s favorite eyeliner source, just do what you’ve always done: shop elsewhere.
