Celebrity Name: Kendall Jenner & Simone Ashley
Brand Name: L’Oréal Paris
Deal Type: Brand Campaign / Film Promotional Partnership
Announced: March 15, 2026
Impact: Elevates L’Oréal Paris’ presence at the Oscars, deepens its connection to fashion-film culture, and boosts the profile of Jenner and Ashley ahead of the movie’s May 1 release
- L’Oréal Paris aired a custom ad during the 98th Annual Academy Awards featuring global ambassadors Kendall Jenner and Simone Ashley, set inside the fictional Runway Magazine offices from The Devil Wears Prada 2.
- The campaign is part of a broader collaboration with 20th Century Studios’ The Devil Wears Prada 2, hitting theaters May 1, 2026, and will feature creative activations throughout the film’s theatrical rollout.
- The ad, created by Maximum Effort (Ryan Reynolds’ production company), centers on a comedic mix-up where Kendall Jenner is mistaken as a candidate for Miranda Priestly’s new assistant, while Simone Ashley reprises her film role as “Amari.”
- ]The partnership marks a significant brand moment for L’Oréal Paris, aligning one of the world’s most iconic beauty brands with one of 2026’s most anticipated film sequels.
L’Oréal Paris made a bold Hollywood move on Oscars night. The beauty giant debuted a cinematic new ad during the 98th Annual Academy Awards, and it had fans of fashion, film, and beauty talking all at once.
The custom spot, created by Ryan Reynolds’ production studio Maximum Effort, is set in the glossy world of Runway Magazine, the fictional fashion bible at the heart of The Devil Wears Prada franchise.
In the ad, supermodel and L’Oréal global ambassador Kendall Jenner is hilariously mistaken as a candidate for Miranda Priestly’s new assistant. Bridgerton star Simone Ashley, who plays “Amari,” one of Miranda’s assistants, in the upcoming film sequel, also stars alongside her.
The campaign is more than a one-night splash. L’Oréal Paris confirmed the collaboration will roll out across multiple creative activations leading up to The Devil Wears Prada 2‘s exclusive theatrical debut on May 1, 2026, distributed by 20th Century Studios.
The sequel reunites the original cast Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, and Stanley Tucci, with director David Frankel.
Jenner, who became a L’Oréal Paris global ambassador in July 2023, called filming the spot “honestly so much fun,” adding it felt like living her dream. Ashley, a L’Oréal spokesperson since May 2024, described it as “a true career highlight.”
L’Oréal Paris Brand President Laura Branik noted the collaboration was a meaningful way to reinforce what the brand stands for: “celebrating women who set the standard, on screen and in real life.”
This isn’t the first time L’Oréal Paris has used bold celebrity casting to command cultural conversations. Teyana Taylor’s recent campaign with L’Oréal Paris followed a similar playbook of pairing star power with brand identity, and Gillian Anderson’s partnership with M&S shows how fashion and film-adjacent celebrities are increasingly being tapped for high-concept brand campaigns in 2026.
Takeaways
This campaign is a masterclass in entertainment marketing done right. L’Oréal Paris didn’t just buy an Oscars ad slot, they built a story inside one of Hollywood’s most beloved fictional universes.
By anchoring the campaign to The Devil Wears Prada 2, a film dripping in nostalgia and cultural cachet, the brand guaranteed it would resonate across multiple generations.
The choice of Kendall Jenner and Simone Ashley, two women who genuinely represent a new era of confident, boundary-breaking femininity, is no accident.
Both ambassadors embody L’Oréal’s long-standing “Because You’re Worth It” philosophy in distinctly modern, global ways. Simone Ashley, in particular, is having a career-defining year: from Bridgerton to a debut music album in the works to now starring in one of 2026’s most anticipated blockbusters.
With Maximum Effort, the same creative engine behind Deadpool’s witty marketing, producing the ad, L’Oréal is leaning into humor and cinematic storytelling as a brand language. This is beauty advertising evolving beyond the product shot.
With Kendall Jenner and Simone Ashley both signed as L’Oréal ambassadors, is this the most culturally powerful beauty brand duo right now? Does tying a beauty campaign to a major film sequel make the brand feel more exciting or does it risk the product getting overshadowed by the movie hype?
