Non-sports aficionados look forward to the Super Bowl as much as football fans, tuning in for its lineup of funny commercials and highly anticipated movie trailers. Many of the advertisements feature famous faces, such as Tina Fey’s impromptu “30 Rock” reunion during her 2024 Super Bowl commercial. However, one 2024 Super Bowl commercial got a yellow flag from the NFL.
The NYX makeup brand created an ad for their Duck Plump lip gloss featuring rapper Cardi B, and the inappropriate implications of the second half of the commercial are why the NFL only allowed a 30-second version to air during the big game. The shortened version of the “Lips Only” ad features Cardi B in full glam (including one of her iconic manicures). She lists off the attributes of the plumping lip gloss alongside dancers in duck heads. The end of the commercial includes a QR code, which leads people to the full minute-long commercial on the NYX website.
In the extended edition, viewers learn that “Cardi B and NYX Cosmetics Cause Chaos,” because men are applying the Duck Plump gloss … somewhere else. Men are shown hobbling around and being carried away by paramedics because they misused the beauty product. “Cardi said ‘duck,'” one paramedic says, exasperated. Her coworker adds, “D-U-C-K.” The end of the commercial includes a “#ForLipsOnly” hashtag.
Cardi B thought the ad was humorous
NYX seemed to have fun with the ad, despite it being shortened. On X, formerly known as Twitter, the NYX account shared a gif from the commercial of Cardi B applying the lip gloss with a cheeky reference to one of her songs: “WAP: wet and plump #duckplump #forlipsonly.”
Yasmin Dastmalchi, general manager of NYX Professional Makeup USA, also shared a statement about the slightly controversial (yet hilarious) advertisement: “As a female-led brand with female creators behind the work, we’re proud of our creative idea, which flips the script on male stereotypes with lighthearted humor” (via Billboard). Dastmalchi went on to say that this was NYX’s first Super Bowl commercial and that “[making] everyone laugh during the big game” was their goal. She added, “We hope you love it as much as we do!”
The leading lady loved it too. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter from the set for the commercial, Cardi B said she thought the concept was humorous: “I like it because it’s like, ‘Plump? Plump about what?’ And then it’s like, ‘Ha! It’s lip plump! Stop being freaky, boys.'” Although it’s understandable why the advertisement was cut short for the Super Bowl — it’s a family-friendly event, and the commercial is not quite that — it likely made people curious about the product (exactly what commercials are supposed to do!).
