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What Hair and Beauty Brands Can Learn from Mecca’s Cost-Per-Wear Campaign Cancellation

Writer's picture: Tamara ReidTamara Reid

If you’ve been on TikTok recently, you might’ve heard about Mecca’s cancelled 50-Cent Face campaign. It dropped last November, aiming to show consumers just how “affordable” a full face of makeup could be when broken down into cost-per-wear.


The campaign was originally promoted by influencers like @Sophadophaa and @claire_bridgett, and included a detailed breakdown of products, prices, quantities, approximate uses, and even spreadsheets in the original blog piece. Sounds clever, right? Well, not so much.


It all came tumbling down when Jillie Clark (thank you, TikTok detective) called out the campaign’s maths, questioning how Mecca managed to calculate those figures. Jillie’s video highlights how the “cost-per-wear” breakdown was, unrealistic - requiring impossibly small amounts of product to hit the 50-cent mark. Essentially, the campaign’s credibility crumbled almost immediately after the video was posted.


Here’s where this gets relevant for us in the professional hair and beauty industry.


Let’s be honest: we’ve all been in a brand-led product training session or education day where the educator claims something like, “Your client will get 4–6 months out of this cleanser” or “Two pumps a night will last six months.” But has anyone really done the maths?


On the surface, it sounds great - convincing even. But imagine you’re the therapist or stylist repeating that information to a client as what you believe is gospel. What happens when the client returns three months later, frustrated because they’ve already run out? Cue the awkward silence.


Meccas original cost-per-wear spreadsheet
Meccas original cost-per-wear spreadsheet

The 50-Cent Face is a perfect example of how easily brands can lose trust when their claims don’t hold up under the magi-lamp. In our industry, trust is everything. We’re not just selling products; we’re selling expertise, results, and, most importantly, relationships.


When we make claims about how long a product will last or how much a client should use, we need to ensure those claims are accurate. It’s not just about doing the math; it’s about doing realistic math.


Here’s the silver lining: as professionals, we’re already pretty meticulous when it comes to pricing treatments and projecting salon profitability by using our treatment costings. We understand the value of being precise. So why not apply that same standard to retail products too?

The 50 cent face blog post that started it all
The 50 cent face blog post that started it all

So, how can a brand be savvy during an economic downturn enough to make a product enticing, without false claims around the longevity?


  • Test it out: If you’re claiming a serum lasts six months, perform a company wide case-study but getting your employees to use it daily and see how long it truly lasts - from the client end, not the formulators end.

  • Communicate clearly: Teach your team to explain product longevity as an estimate, not a guarantee. “This cleanser should last around four months depending on usage” is a lot safer than “It’ll last exactly four months.”

  • Educate your stockists: Help them understand how to use the product effectively without over-promising.

  • Track returns and feedback: If clients consistently say a product doesn’t last as long as expected, that’s your cue to adjust your messaging.


Perhaps I'm deeping it too much, but I’d rather overthink this now and save a brand from being cancelled later than sit back and wait for the next TikToker to call someone out. The last thing we need is a frustrated client leaving the salon (or clinic) with a bad taste in their mouth because they felt misled.


At the end of the day, trust and transparency are what set us apart in the pro beauty world. If Mecca’s campaign taught us anything, it’s this: don’t claim to have “done the maths” unless you actually have.


What do you think? Are we being too cautious, or is this a necessary wake-up call?

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bradyboi
6 days ago

Whilst the release of ‘white papers’ is a move towards brand transparency, it’s more a strategy to build credibility…. A serious cosmeceutical brand with proven treatment outcomes!


It needs to be highlighted that white papers are written by the brand, for the brand. The information contained within does not have to be validated & more often than not isn’t. The use of ‘subjective consumer’ claims e.g.’89% of users agreed their skin looked smoother’… says very little regarding the efficacy of a product.


The content of white papers should always be viewed with a healthy skepticism.


Peer-reviewed, published clinical papers remain the gold standard for clinically proven, independently validated results & are the only source of meaningful, trustworthy treatment claims.

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