Why Are So Many Brands Faking Scandals?
The Business of Fashion Podcast
The Business of Fashion
4.5 • 813 Ratings
🗓️ 13 May 2026
⏱️ 20 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The beauty industry is currently contending with marketing saturation, compounded by an overcrowded content ecosystem in which traditional metrics like follower counts and comments are often distorted by bots. To combat this, brands are turning to "rage bait"— content designed to trigger shock, anger or confusion and meant to drive shares and saves, which are now seen as more authentic indicators of engagement. From Lancôme’s "misdirected" PR mailers to ColourPop’s fake apology squares, the strategy bets that a negative or confused reaction is more valuable than no reaction at all in a world where attention is the ultimate currency.
In this episode, BoF’s Sheena Butler-Young talks to Business of Beauty Executive Editor Priya Rao, and Senior Editorial Associate Rachael Griffiths about whether these high-risk stunts build genuine brand equity or simply erode long-term consumer trust.
Key Insights:
- The Engagement-Sales Gap: While rage bait excels at awareness and can grab people’s attention, there is no direct, proven line to immediate sales. Success is currently measured through the "halo effect" on other posts and metrics like shares and saves rather than conversion.
- The "Boy Who Cried Wolf" Risk: Brands face a significant limitation in that this strategy is often a one-time lever. If a brand issues a fake apology for marketing, it risks losing all credibility when a genuine corporate blunder occurs.
- Suitability by Segment: Chaotic creator" style may work best for indie or playful brands like ColourPop and Dieux. Heritage or luxury brands — particularly those focused on medical-grade efficacy or high price points — risk alienating customers who expect a serious relationship with the brand.
- The Confusion Trap: Stunts that cross the line from cheeky to genuine misinformation, such as Schick’s ambiguous partnership with Nick Jonas, can leave consumers feeling annoyed and disappointed rather than entertained.
Additional Resources:
- Why Are So Many Beauty Brands Faking Scandals? | BoF
- Playbook | Beauty Retail in the Age of Connected Commerce | BoF
- How to ‘Un-Cancel’ a Beauty Product | BoF
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to the debrief from the Business of Fashion, where each week we delve |
| 0:12.4 | into our most popular BOF professional stories with the correspondence who created them. |
| 0:17.6 | I'm senior correspondent, Sheena Butler Young. |
| 0:20.4 | If you've been scrolling your social media |
| 0:22.2 | feed lately, you might have noticed something strange happening in the world of beauty. In a sea of |
| 0:27.0 | get ready with me, get the look and try this blush or lipstick, some brands are doing something |
| 0:31.9 | very different. Staging fake manufacturing controversies, apologizing for made-up mishaps, or even pranking your favorite celebrities. |
| 0:40.5 | It's called rage bait. |
| 0:42.4 | In a saturated market where attention is the most valuable currency, these brands are betting that a negative reaction is better than no reaction at all. |
| 0:50.4 | But as ragebait becomes a go-to strategy in an increasingly fragmented attention economy, the question is, how long before it stops working? |
| 0:59.0 | Can self-induced outrage and the pursuit of virality actually drive sales, or is it a gimmick that risks eroding trust with the brand's most loyal customers? |
| 1:07.5 | Joining us this week are Business of Beauty executive editor, Priya Rao, and senior editorial |
| 1:12.1 | associate Rachel Griffiths. Priya, Rachel, welcome to the debrief. Hi, Sheena. Hi. Thank you for having us. |
| 1:19.6 | So we should probably start by acknowledging that rage bait isn't exactly new on or offline. Some would say |
| 1:25.9 | marketing is inherently provocative. You never want to put |
| 1:29.4 | something out as a marketer and people feel nothing or they don't react. Priya, why don't you help us |
| 1:34.0 | understand like what's so different about this so-called rage bait of the internet era? What does it |
| 1:39.3 | mean? How is it different from what I was thinking of, which is like in our era pre, our brain on drugs? Do you remember |
| 1:45.1 | this commercial? This iconic commercial that was meant to provoke people and to actually kind of |
| 1:49.7 | scare you into not using drugs. So this is not new. Why is it different now? I think what's different |
| 1:55.4 | now is that there's such saturation in marketing today. There's so many more brands. There's so many |
| 2:00.2 | more companies. |
... |
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