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e.l.f. launches Made to Stand Out, a handmade stop-motion holiday film narrated by Alan Cumming with Apartment D Films
Key Takeaways
e.l.f. launched Made to Stand Out, which it calls its first-ever holiday campaign, on 2 November 2026 across its digital and social platforms.
The 60-second stop-motion film is narrated by Alan Cumming and directed by Cami Kwan of Apartment D Films, on a production where women made up 90% of the puppet team and 100% of the animation team.
Three college-aged friends each use one product, namely Power Grip Primer at $11, Glow Reviver Lip Oil at $9 and Thirst Burst Drops at $13.
Best Buy and Target stores will carry the campaign through takeovers of their TV sections during the holiday gifting season.
e.l.f. has released Made to Stand Out, a 60-second stop-motion film narrated by Emmy and Tony Award winner Alan Cumming, telling the story of three friends who never quite fit in. The company individually moulded every character and built every miniature set by hand. The film debuted on e.l.f.'s digital and social platforms on 2nd November and will appear on televisions at Best Buy and Target, where it will take over the TV sections throughout the holiday gift-giving season.
This production choice is one we're seeing across many brands this Christmas season: not using AI, and I feel like we're going to be seeing it a lot more. Brands want to make customers feel something, and using artificial intelligence isn't going to get them that reaction.
e.l.f. Made to Stand Out follows Kit, Echo and Cleo through a 60-second handmade stop-motion film
The story follows college-aged best friends Kit, Echo and Cleo as they reunite in their hometown for the holidays and get ready for what could be an awkward night out, with old insecurities resurfacing along the way. Kit is sentimental and nurturing, Echo is the talkative one and Cleo is a bookish introvert, and the three come to see that the qualities they once questioned are the same ones that set them apart. Each friend is paired with a single product, with Kit using Power Grip Primer at $11, Echo using Glow Reviver Lip Oil at $9 and Cleo using Thirst Burst Drops at $13, and all three sit at the accessible end of the beauty aisle. Campaign copy distils the moral into the line "your difference is lowkey your gift", which brings a little Gen Z vocabulary to a format that nods to classic holiday tales such as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer from 1964.
Cami Kwan directed the film for Apartment D Films, the Burbank stop-motion studio, on a production where women made up 90% of the puppet team and 100% of the animation team. Long-time agency partner SHADOW led the creative concept, script development and casting, and it worked on the script with Adam Goldman, who is Cumming's longtime collaborator. Cumming said, "What I love about this story is that their differences aren't things to hide, they're what make them special." He has also said that it is lovely to partner with a brand he aligns with, especially on being vegan and cruelty-free, and he praised the campaign for its "incredible artistry" and called it "a rather lovely holiday adventure to be part of."
Oshiya Savur, the brand's Chief Marketing Officer, called the campaign "an exciting e.l.f. first" and tied the handcrafted method directly to the story's theme of individual difference. In her words, "Just as no two handcrafted creations are exactly alike, it's our differences that make each of us one of a kind." She added that the team wanted its community to see themselves in the characters, and that it had "created a world with as much personality as the people in it."
e.l.f. chooses handcrafted animation for Made to Stand Out as 68% of US adults cite nostalgia
The research behind the decision is largely about memory, with the release citing a 2026 Civic Science finding that 68% of US adults say nostalgia influences the products they purchase. It also draws on a November 2023 Archbridge Institute study in which 72% of Americans said nostalgic memories inspire them when life feels complicated, and both figures suit a film built in the style of the television specials many adults grew up watching. Cumming went further than the brand in discussing the method, saying in an interview, "For me, stop-motion animation is the absolute antithesis of this generic AI way we're going." He added that he has always been a fan of the art form, and his friendship with Caroline Thompson, who wrote The Nightmare Before Christmas, excited the team at Apartment D and SHADOW.
The timing follows an awkward moment for machine-made festive advertising, when McDonald's pulled an AI-generated Christmas ad in the Netherlands last December after widespread criticism online. Handmade work has since become a visible position in holiday marketing, and e.l.f. shares this season's calendar with Prada's Drawing Prada campaign, which placed real actors inside hand-drawn winter scenes created by artists led by animator John Pomeroy.
Long-form entertainment was already part of the brand's marketing before this film, as the 10-minute true crime parody Vanity Vandals arrived in March with a premiere at the TCL Chinese Theatre as the follow-up to its 2024 Cosmetic Criminals film. Savur inherited that approach when she arrived from beauty incubator Maesa, with Kory Marchisotto moving up to president after nearly six years as global chief marketing officer. Apartment D has a modest origin story of its own, having started in a living room in 2016 before growing into a 6,000 square foot studio with eight shooting stages, and Kwan has said of her crew, "We want our crew to feel ownership over what's happening, like they're not just a cog in a machine."
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