Hero Cosmetics: "Zitcation"

Advertising agency and brand production studio Humanaut has created a campaign for Hero Cosmetics and its award-winning Mighty Patch pimple patch. Hero is the #1 pimple patch brand in the U.S.

The pimple patch subcategory of skincare has grown at an incredibly fast pace the past few years, but despite that growth, awareness of Hero and its Mighty Patch pimple patches is still low. The goal of the “Pimple, Meet Your Mighty Patch” campaign was to bring the Hero brand and its Mighty Patch to life for consumers and to differentiate them from the pack.
There was once a time when getting a breakout felt like a tragedy of epic proportions. Popular media from the 1990s and 2000s told people that getting a simple pimple was a world-ending event—the worst thing EVER. But those days are over because Hero’s Mighty Patch pimple patches are pitched as the secret weapon to help with pimples. The easy-to-use and gentle patches are made of medical-grade hydrocolloid that absorbs pimple gunk in six to eight hours to reveal clearer-looking skin.

Humanaut’s “Pimple, Meet Your Mighty Patch” videos poke fun at nostalgic pimple hysteria. In them, zits are personified and over-exaggerated as fast-talking, confident, and annoying alter-egos of the people who sport them. These pimples are up to no good—they pop up to taunt someone to ruin a vacation, crash a date night, or try to tempt them to pop. The action switches back and forth from the nice, normal humans who are applying Mighty Patch to their tiny, over-the-top doppelgängers, who are acting like besties and trying to persuade them not to zap them. They’re in for a rude awakening when they realize users have the Mighty Patch pimple patches. They won’t be living rent-free on people’s faces any longer.

“As someone who grew up with the classic 90s teen drama tropes around acne and pimples, it’s really exciting getting to explore and have fun with the emotional journey that we go on when we get a pimple or breakout,” said Bethany Maxfield, creative director at Humanaut. “Now, we have Hero’s Mighty Patch products to help shut up that little voice in our head that tells us a breakout is going to ruin everything, because we know that our pimples will look better in just a matter of hours.”
The product is unique in that its formulation is designed to help people who get pimples occasionally as well as those who face chronic acne issues. Occasional users had not been given a space in advertising previously, and Hero’s research reflected this. Mighty Patch pimple patches are bringing new users into the category at higher levels, and when asked why, these people said there was nothing prior that met their specific needs.

“We are incredibly excited to kick off Hero’s first brand awareness campaign. We believe that pimples aren’t something to be ashamed of, but it’s also not something you need to suffer without help or put up with, either. Humanaut has been the ideal creative partner to help bring this brand idea to life in a really fun and engaging way,” said Amy Calhoun Robb, VP of Marketing for Hero Cosmetics.

The campaign’s eight video assets (:30, :15, and :06) will run on YouTube, TikTok, Meta, Amazon and OTT/CTV. This is Hero’s first awareness campaign and Humanaut’s first assignment for the client after winning the assignment in December 2022.