If your holiday shopping list includes products from the Jeffree Star x Shane Dawson Conspiracy collection, then you’re out of luck because at this point not even Santa could get his hands on a Nate pillow. Fans lined up at Morphe stores across the globe on Nov. 1 in preparation for the collection’s release, but the frantic anticipation of the launch didn’t stop fans at the Burbank, California location from saving a parking spot for Dawson’s mom. In an even more wild turn of events, the Conspiracy page went live on Star’s website, and the products almost sold out when the website crashed from traffic, a problem Shopify, the web provider, had never experienced before.
Dawson has been a creator on YouTube since early in the platform’s conception, but up until recently hadn’t experienced the same level of success as newer creators like James Charles, Tana Mongeau or David Dobrik. Dawson has experienced his fair share of controversy throughout his career revolving around his early content involving outrage comedy. These controversies, as well as Dawson maturing from adolescence to adulthood, have contributed to his brand going through many different iterations during the last decade, none of which have been as popular as the revamp Dawson did on his channel a year ago. The flagship of his channel has become his documentary series revolving around controversial beauty guru Jeffree Star. The latest iteration of this series, “The Secret World of Jeffree Star,” documents the creation to conception of the Star/Dawson makeup collaboration. The series details the ugly side of the cosmetic industry, from companies ripping off influencers they collaborate with to unethical practices. If you have ever wondered what you are actually paying for when you buy a product from MAC, Sephora or Kylie Cosmetics, this series breaks down that information with profit margins that may shock consumers.
Through weathering their individual controversies, Dawson and Star have respectively created a devout and loyal fan base that was excited about their collaboration from the first hints Dawson gave in his original Jeffree Star docuseries. Star and Dawson have also used the success of both the original series and the reboot to market their product line through storytelling, bringing their audience in by creating a feeling of participation with their consumers. This unique way of advertising helped provide a fair share of the line’s successful sales, but the main contributing factor can be given to Dawson and Star’s fan base genuinely rooting for the loveable creators’ success.
Pop-culture column by Hannah Davis Johns, Staff Writer