Christopher Kouros Disrupts the Norm as a Quirky Scientist in Viral e.l.f. Campaign

Creative agency, 72&Sunny asked Mill+ for help in building on their viral “e.l.f. von zehn” campaign. The original TVC campaign showcased the brand’s affordable, high-performance products through a playful approach to beauty, rooted in community insights and cultural humour. Featuring actor Christopher Kouros as a quirky scientist, the campaign was intended to disrupt the norm, but they wanted to take it a step further.

72&Sunny approached Mill+, The Mill’s award-winning creative content studio, to produce 20 x 10' social films, shot and delivered in record time. The goal? To boost the virality of an already successful campaign by capitalizing on advertising’s biggest event – the Super Bowl. The vision was a social-led, reactive campaign that would allow for real-time game reactions, allowing the beauty brand to engage with their online community across Instagram, TikTok and Twitch.

So, how did Mill+ do it?  Executive producer Jack Howard and senior producer Elle Lockhart assembled a dream team to tackle the brief at lightning speed, bringing together the comedy chops of director Dan Castella, choreography by movement director Carina Howard, and an endless array of Super Bowl themed props by production designer Lea Kemmery, to shoot the hilarious content in front of a green screen in central London. 

Onto a world-class editor and The Mill’s VFX experts to finalise that lo-fi, satirical product. The task was to create an ‘amateur VFX’ look for the green screen comps, to add another layer of humour to the content. Bad green screen keying, poor animation and quirky mistakes have been thrown in to compliment the hilarious acting and editing that gives this spot its appeal. 

“This project was a masterclass in creative agility, made possible by a bold client and a fast-moving agency working totally in-step. The creative brief from e.l.f. and 72&Sunny demanded speed, humour, and a deep understanding of internet culture, and we knew we had to embrace the chaos in the best possible way. From assembling a top-tier team to delivering 20+ individual social films, it was all about striking the perfect balance between high-energy production and intentionally lo-fi execution.” said Mill+ executive producer, Jack Howard.

72&Sunny creative director, Patrik Lenhart praised Mill+, saying, “Creating the e.l.f.time show together with Mill+ was so much fun! Loved how fast we aligned on that unique (and not common) tone we were going for and getting the best of all disciplines together to bring this idea to live in e.l.f.speed - just before the biggest sports moment of the year.”