Micheal Cera: Lotion Hotshot or Lotion Hot-not

By: Hannah Alwine, Contributor

I am not a Micheal Cera fan. I have never claimed to be. I am also not a Micheal Cera hater. I exist somewhere in between the two. I am a Micheal Cera ambivalent. I don’t know that much about the guy. He’s mentioned on occasion, but not in my day to day. It is a rare occurrence that I get to discuss the actor or his early work. I liked him in Juno. Arrested Development. I had trouble liking him in Scott Pilgrim vs the World, but that’s neither here nor there. 

It was only when an advertisement, slung across my Instagram Reels for-you page from the far reaches of the Internet where they think about Micheal Cera on the daily, that I found myself with an uncomfortably persistent interest in what that guy (Micheal) had been up to for all these years. 

Micheal Cera’s Super Bowl Ad is strange. It is surrealist. It is vaguely uncomfortable. “My name is Micheal Cera,” he croons as he emerges from behinds folds of gossamer cloth fluttering in an unsourceable breeze, “Human skin is my passion.” 

The ad is resplendent with weird images. 

One version of Micheal Cera is seen laying on a massage table, while another version of the actor rubs the tension from his clone’s shoulders. 

He climbs a mountain slathering the rock with lotion as some strange viscous replacement for climbing chalk. 

He longues in a woodland glade. A narwhal surfaces in the sparkling pool next to him and they communicate in a series of squeaks and chirps, leaving the viewer to assume two facts; 1) that Micheal Cera is fluent in narwhal and 2) that narwhals have a particular interest in moisturizing cream. 

Throughout the ad there is an understanding that Micheal Cera and the eponympic lotion are connected. Holding a tub of the stuff he whispers to it tenderly, “I’m telling them our story.” His gaze flicks to the camera catching the viewer’s gaze on his own. For a moment we are invited into this world where Micheal Cera is not only a celebrity ambassador, but intimately connected to the product’s very creation. 

But this is not the connection that CeraVe wants you to make. Instead, they end the commercial with a statement that directly contradicts this assumption, “Developed with Dermatologists. Not Micheal Cera.” This same rhetoric continues onto the company's website. Under the heading “Micheal Cera…ve? Find out the Truth,” a screengrab from the commercial of Micheal holding a tub of the lotion is crossed out with a poorly photoshopped blue X slashed across his face. 

The page goes on to debunk the Micheal Cera / CeraVe connection so obviously implied by their commercial. The language used is strong — decisive even: “Cerave by Michael Cera? Not today, not ever.” According to CeraVe, it is Micheal Cera that has been peddling the actor/lotion connection. “How did the Micheal rumors get into the world in the first place?” the site asks as if they have had little to do with propping up the connection.  

Rather than clear up the mystery behind CeraVe’s conception, the reader (ie me) is left with more questions than ever. Is the site implying that Micheal Cera was behind the Super Bowl ad? Is the entire campaign a ruse by the company or rather an attempt to gain control of a rapidly spreading conspiracy threatening their business? What does Micheal Cera think? Is he a mere mouthpiece or the mastermind behind the whole debacle? Is he being forced to spread this propaganda against his will?*

Based on my intensive research (a result of procrastinating several very sturdy readings that taunt me from the recesses of my tote bag as we speak) the ad is very much a product of a month or so of subliminal campaigning by CeraVe. Widespread association between famed skin-care product and actor began when pictures of him lugging bags of the product around New York appeared on Page 6 and People magazine. Other pictures were circulated of Micheal Cera handing the moisturizer out to pedestrians and signing bottles at a pharmacy in Brooklyn. In explicit confirmation, Melanie Vidal, CeraVe’s Global Brand General Manager has been quoted saying that "The Super Bowl presented an ideal stage to illuminate our brand's mission through an innovative approach—a first of its kind immersive campaign, inviting everyone to participate in a memorable prank-like experience. Now, for those who were unaware, it's crystal clear: CeraVe is developed with dermatologists and 'cera' stands for 'ceramides' —essential lipids that help to protect and restore the skin barrier.” It's this explicit proximity to the very company it supports that causes the joke to lose its charm. 

In learning about this ad, there had been a part of me that hoped that CeraVe wasn’t involved in its creation at all. I imagined it as a Micheal Cera brainchild — him and Aubrey Plaza (in my mind they are and should always be together) thinking, “Wouldn’t it be funny if!” The corporate connection and influence in the creation and popularization of this ad has left me confused. If I buy into the ad and its joke, am I also buying into CeraVe? Am I falling victim to the influence of one of those manipulative marketing schemes I’d been warned about? 

Nobody likes to be sold, at least not explicitly, which is why this ad worked so well at first. Rather than being sold to, the viewer was somehow in on and a part of the joke. But after reading about the “robust influencer marketing strategy” and “intricately curated social marketing” instead of feeling implicated, I am instead left feeling tricked. Did Micheal even play a part in brainstorming the campaign as the end of the ad suggests? Or was he, thanks to his convenient last name, just the next in a long line of celebrities contracted out to make companies seem more personable?

It’s not necessarily the ad itself that disconcerts me — Super Bowl ads are traditionally a bit out there, fun, funny, their goal not so much to introduce you to new products, but rather reinforce their brand on the biggest stage of the American calendar year — but rather the marketing that led up to the ad, that influenced me in such an under the radar way. I had seen the pictures of Micheal Cera selling his cream on the streets of New York and thought it was funny. Oh Micheal, what are you up to now! CeraVe had fooled me into thinking something was innovative, strange, avante-garde (am I using this right?) when in fact it was just another instance of a company trying to shove their product down my throat.

Now, when I see the canisters of CeraVe lotion on the shelves of the RiteAid it’s true that the sweet brush of Micheal Cera’s lotion soft hands against my face is my first thought. But instead of reaching for my wallet, I find myself turning away — if Micheal didn’t make it, I’m not buying.

*In the interest of Micheal Cera’s safety we have reached out to his publicity team with these concerns, but we have yet to receive a response.