J. Lo's Brand Has Been Damaged for Years
Her struggling album and ticket sales were preceded by years of awkward moves.
In today’s issue:
Jennifer Lopez’s tour is struggling to sell tickets after a rough album launch. It’s a stark change from just 2019, when she was heralded as someone on whom the fashion industry was “betting big.”
How Lopez has been fumbling Brand J. Lo since 2021.
Loose Threads, including Zendaya for Vogue, Anna Wintour’s dogs, and more.
Six months ago, someone posted a photo to Reddit’s Sephora group captioned, “JLO beauty ~literally~ collecting dust 😂.” Now, apparently the same can be said of tickets to her tour, which has already canceled seven dates and, as of last week, been rebranded a career retrospective. The concert was previously positioned as a showcase of her new album This Is Me… Now, which debuted at 38 on the Billboard 200 chart and was released along with two films, This is Me… Now: A Love Story plus a documentary on the making of it.
This white water of J. Lo content should have been the pinnacle of capitalizing on audience goodwill after she got back together with Ben Affleck, which has been an enjoyable media spectacle — something fans rooted for. Yet the music and movies left many in a state of confusion and disinterest, culminating now in internet ire that’s drawn comparisons to the ugly “Hathahate” that plagued Anne Hathaway in the 2010s. Many have accused Lopez of indulging in “creative narcissism,” though one wonders why these same allegations haven’t been levied at Justin Timberlake, Drake, or other cringe male artists. But other critiques may be more damaging, like the TikToker (whose account appears to have been removed), who claimed to have gone to high school with Lopez and said she was “lying” about elements of her upbringing and invoking the Bronx to “look human.”
The shift in sentiment around Lopez hasn’t shot forth suddenly from the black beyond, like a laser in the Waiting for Tonight video. It has been building since the pandemic. Lopez had been riding high as an actress and spokesmodel before a few ill-advised moves caused her brand to take a hit. Now, Lopez is a case study of a celebrity that failed to catch the shifts of this decade.
In 2019, Lopez was at a career peak. She was credited with generating $9.4 million in media impressions after appearing in the spring 2020 Versace runway show wearing the same “jungle” dress she famously wore to the Grammys in 2000. It made for one of those afternoons on social media where all you saw was the same moment over and over again — J. Lo on that runway — as shared by breathless witnesses.
Lopez walked in the show because she was Versace’s face that season. She had also been fronting Coach and would soon be announced as the face of Guess. At this time, many agreed that she should have been nominated for an Oscar for her appearance in the 2019 movie Hustlers, which cast a halo effect on everything she did. Did you see the movie? It was great. She was great. That pole dance she did? Great. She’s doing Coach now? Interesting! But great.
She was so ubiquitous that Business of Fashion ran the story, “Why the Fashion Industry Is Betting Big on Jennifer Lopez.” The piece noted how unusual it was for one star to work as a face for so many brands:
Lopez offers a wholesome-yet-cool persona, gravitas along with reach. “It’s great for her brand, Brand J.Lo, in terms of building brand equity,” said [Simon Woolford, founder and company director of creative agency Sum Design]. That level of influence gives her clout for lucrative collaborations.
She may have gotten the lucrative collaborations — for beauty and alcohol brands — but she flubbed the rollouts of both.
Before we get into that, take yourself back to this period of time: talking-head analysis videos weren’t a thing, celebrity beauty brands weren’t launching at the pace of new Netflix shows, and infinity pools were #goals. The pandemic hadn’t happened, Bernie Sanders’s talking points about income inequality were just entering mainstream discourse, and having the right clothes and “aesthetic” on Instagram could turn unknowns into influencers who earned millions of dollars a year. Cultural criticism was less prevalent, the media revered #girlbosses, and hustle culture was alive and well. Audiences desired the material spoils that stars like J. Lo enjoyed, instead of viewing them as an unattainable consequence of a capitalist system that left so many hardworking people unfairly behind.
Then came 2020. The pandemic. Lockdowns. The haves retreated to Hamptons houses, while essential workers strapped on face masks, went to work, and hoped for the best. A lot of fashion businesses took hits, like Kohl’s, which stopped selling Lopez’s clothing brand along with a slew of others in May 2020.
In January 2021, as the worst spike of covid-related deaths started to come down, Lopez posted on X/Twitter about the anniversary to her song, “Love Don’t Cost a Thing”: “The #LoveDontCostAThingChallenge STARTS NOW !!!! Can’t wait to see your renditions,” along with a video of her throwing her clothes and jewelry onto a beach. The audience response:
In the midst of this, TikTok became the social network of choice for people who were bored at home, who realized they had a bigger appetite for cultural analysis and expertise over pretty pictures. Suddenly, anyone could knowledge-share and become famous — morticians, social workers, public relations people, plastic surgeons. With all this analysis, artifice became even harder to hide, and celebrities whose stories involved apparent vulnerability and honesty avoided going the way of Gal Gadot, whose “Imagine” video was labeled “peak cringe” during the pandemic.
Around the same time as her beach video, Lopez launched JLo Beauty, which landed in Sephora. To promote the line, she had to do interviews, and started telling the press that she looked the way she did because of olive oil and sunscreen. “I haven’t ever had Botox to this day,” Lopez, then 51, said in a Zoom call with reporters. The internet didn’t buy it, and Lopez told an Instagram user who commented that she looked like she’d had tons of Botox: "LOL that's just my face!!!… for the 500 millionth time...I have never done Botox or any injectables or surgery!! Just saying."
"Get you some JLO Beauty and feel beautiful in your own skin!! And here is another JLO Beauty secret: try spending your time being more positive, kind and uplifting of others," she added. "Don't spend your time trying to bring others down that will keep you youthful and beautiful too!!! Sending you love. #beautyfromtheinsideout #beautyhasnoexpirationdate." In an even more perplexing move, she then tried to explain to People why she bothered to respond to a random person at all, saying, “I don't judge anybody. If you want to do Botox and injectables, that's fine! But I don't want people lying on me and saying, 'Oh, she's trying to make believe that this stuff works.”
Now, JLo Beauty is exiting Sephora’s U.S. stores, according to BeautyIndependent. From the story:
Rebecca Bartlett, founder and creative director of brand strategy agency Bartlett Brands, suggests that JLo Beauty’s stumbles at Sephora stem from Lopez’s lack of credibility in the results-based skincare realm. Efficacy is paramount for the brand’s core consumer base of women over 40 years old.
“We’ve done a lot of research on this segment’s mindset around skincare and consistently see that by 40, the interest in an inspiring brand is replaced by what we call ‘make it burn,’ which is essentially the perception of guaranteed results over anything else, including brand,” says Bartlett. “It isn’t lost on the consumer that JLo’s youthful glow comes from the best dermatologists, doctors, trainers and wellness gurus in the world and not her skincare line.”
Though it was collecting dust in Sephora, it’s not as if the appetite for celebrity lines has dried up — Selena Gomez’s Rare beauty just did $400 million in sales in a year, and Rihanna’s Fenty line has made her a billionaire. (JLo Beauty remains available at Macy’s and Sephora in Mexico.)
Lopez fronts other products, notably Delola, a line of cocktail spritzers, which also had a rough rollout when it launched last year. Fans remembered that Lopez had told InStyle in 2018 that she had retained her looks thanks to a no-alcohol, no-caffeine regimen. Followers were also confused about why she would launch a cocktail brand given her husband’s alcohol addiction. Lopez then posted a talking-head video where she explained that actually, she did drink — not drinking was her then, and occasional drinking is her, well, now.
Though the album, movies, and ticket sales have not been great for J. Lo and her suite of brands, not all is doom and gloom. Right before her latest album’s release, Lopez appeared in a Dunkin’ commercial that a lot of people enjoyed, co-starring Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, and Tom Brady. But one “ha-ha” Dunkin’ commercial couldn’t tee up This Is Me… Now for success. As critic Wesley Morris wrote for the New York Times, “The sad news is that nothing in ‘This Is Me … Now’ is as fun — or funny — as those commercials.”
I have long enjoyed Lopez as an entertainer, and believe she’ll bounce back from all of this. I would go to her concert if tickets for lousy seats at Madison Square Garden didn’t cost more than $300 each (without the fees!). If she can do as much as she’s done over the last three decades, she can surely find a way back to the top. Fans love a comeback! Personally, I look forward to her upcoming gritty indie role. If she made a sequel to The Cell, I dare say I would even go see it in a movie theater.
Loose Threads
Zendaya covers the May issue of Vogue to promote the Met Gala (she’s co-chairing along with J. Lo) and her tennis movie Challengers. Styled by Law Roach and photographed by Annie Leibovitz, the images are lovely. The best line: “She’s been playing teenagers for about as long as she’s been working. ‘I’m always in a high school somewhere,’ she says. ‘And, mind you, I never went to high school.’”
Are you following Anna Wintour’s dogs’ Instagram feed?? Featuring the dogs enjoying her Manhattan house and the gardens at her Mastic, Long Island estate. Their names come from To Kill a Mockingbird.
Lush, the bath product brand, has a Shrek collab. WWD: “While the Shrek Swamp bath bomb is scented with chocolate and peppermint, the Fiona shower gel features notes of lime and green grass mixed with notes of pine and mango.”
Cindy Crawford’s husband Rande Gerber co-founded Casamigos tequila with George Clooney. Crawford just announced the launch of Casamigas, which, in addition to being for ladies (?) is infused with jalapeño.
Vogue endorses ghost boobs.
Coveteur published a story about what your favorite fashion Substack says about you, and I am absolutely tickled to have been included. If yours is Back Row: “…You’ve had multiple high-strung bosses, and a designer’s husband drunkenly hit on you at a fashion fête last month. You know exactly what ‘frow’ means. Sometimes you wonder: Is fashion too self-important? Other times: Should I start a TikTok? You're still trying to get an appointment at Atelier Jolie.” Tracks!
I think one takeaway here (and there are many!) is that brands are not "once and dones." They are living, breathing organisms that evolve and change over time. They need watering, sunlight, and fertilizer—not to mention a strong shot of tough love. Kill your darlings, as the saying goes, and this is no less true with brands. Sometimes, you just have to prune the heck out of them.
As soon as your newsletter drops in my inbox Amy I have an urge to cancel all other Substack subscriptions (with the exception of Ali Pew’s maybe, such a true style icon) and only keeps yours. You are a brilliant journalist, you put so much work (real work) in your newsletters and it shows. Bravo 👏