e.l.f. Beauty Takes Its Pickle-Themed Activation to Minnesota and Texas State Fairs
e.l.f. Beauty used state fairs to reach communities it says beauty brands often overlook, building its “eyes.lips.fairgrounds.” campaign around a familiar fairground food and a limited-edition product. The activations brought the brand to the Minnesota State Fair in August and the Texas State Fair in October, pairing product sampling and interactive attractions with livestreams for audiences beyond the fairgrounds.
The Minnesota appearance marked the first time in two decades that a beauty brand had appeared at that fair, according to e.l.f. Brands Chief Integrated Marketing Officer Patrick O’Keefe. The company reported that 64,000 visitors entered its Minnesota footprint and spent an average of eight minutes there. It then extended the campaign to Dallas, where the activation was positioned in front of the Cotton Bowl Stadium.
A local ritual became the campaign idea
e.l.f. framed the fairs as “beauty deserts”: places and communities that, in its view, are underserved by beauty brands. O’Keefe connected the choice to the company’s stated mantra of disrupting norms, shaping culture and connecting communities. The brand’s approach was to join an existing community gathering rather than treat the fairs as conventional pop-up locations.
Pickles supplied a bridge between the fair setting, a food trend and e.l.f.’s products. The source material cites an annual average of 2.1 million pickle chips eaten by attendees at the Minnesota fair, and Circana data showing pickle-flavored snack sales grew 30% over the prior year. The activation also drew on e.l.f.’s pickle-inspired Glow Reviver Melting Lip Balm, which the company said sold out in eight minutes when it launched in early 2026. In August, the brand brought back the product with three limited-edition pickle flavors.
A 10-foot pickle jar served as the centerpiece of the fair installations. Designed as a gashapon-style dispenser, it released cosmetics to visitors. The surrounding footprints took cues from fairground food stands, with free giveaways that included the lip balms, Fine as Fleck Glitter Eyeshadow and, for the first time at a major consumer activation, e.l.f. Hair products. Fair-themed bingo gave visitors another reason to spend time at the booths.
Different fairgrounds, tailored details
The Minnesota activation extended beyond the main footprint. e.l.f. wrapped gondolas on the fair’s Skyride with lip balm branding and QR codes. In Texas, the company introduced its Suntouchable Invisi-Stick and included it among the products available to visitors. The location near the Cotton Bowl Stadium gave the Texas installation a prominent position within the event grounds.
Company leaders also took part in the in-person engagement. Alongside brand ambassadors, O’Keefe and leaders from e.l.f.’s experiential and entertainment divisions spoke with attendees, heard direct reactions to the products and discussed the brand’s purpose. O’Keefe said those conversations gave executives an opportunity to learn which products were resonating and which were not.
Livestreams extended the experience
e.l.f. invited audiences at home into the campaign through creator-hosted Twitch Live broadcasts from the fairs and TikTok Live Shopping broadcasts featuring product bundles and merchandise. O’Keefe described selling through a TikTok Shop livestream at an event as a first for the company and an opportunity to learn.
The brand said unique views were up 610% compared with its previous highest-performing livestream content. It plans to assess the campaign using livestream viewership, loyalty-program sign-ups, products distributed and marketing mix modeling data. The company characterized the effort as successful across in-person and digital activity, while the reported view figure offers one specific measure rather than a complete accounting of its business impact.
e.l.f.’s fair strategy sits within a broader effort to show up in spaces beyond traditional beauty marketing. The company has also cited initiatives including a maker space intended to encourage girls to study STEM and support for the only female driver at the Indy 500. It plans to return to Missouri in December as beauty sponsor of the Wonder Women VIII Tournament wrestling competition, with further work involving the NWSL, PWHL and Billie Jean King Cup also planned.
For marketers, the activation illustrates how a brand can build an event presence around local customs while connecting physical sampling with creator content and commerce. e.l.f.’s next challenge is to evaluate the mix of engagement measures it has identified and determine how the fair appearances contribute to its wider marketing performance.
