MAC Viva Glam Announces Rihanna as 2014 Spokesperson
M•A•C Cosmetics is thrilled to announce the next Viva Glam spokesperson: Rihanna. Arriving January 2014. More information to come as MAC releases official details about the upcoming installment of Viva Glam.
Comments have been turned off on this post. TRIGGER WARNING: This post has become emotionally triggering for victims and survivors of domestic violence due some comments that seem to misunderstand domestic violence, its cycle, and how complex it can be. You may want to read more about domestic violence, the cycle of domestic violence, and really, truly understand why victims often return to their abusers and that it can take many attempts to leave before they finally do. You might ask yourself what you would do if your best friend was in an abusive relationship and how your attitude would help or hinder their situation, attempts to leave an abusive situation, and whether your actions give them the vital support they need to finally leave their abuser. We worry for those who return to abusive situations, and it’s OK to think that it isn’t a good idea or to wish that they did not return, but insinuating that they are now deserving of any abuse they get ignores the complexity of relationships in general as well as abusive relationships.
- FAQ about Domestic Violence
- The Women’s Center
- The Hotline (for anyone who needs to talk to someone)
i jst lop it
Am I the only one who is SICK of her…
Definitely not! I’m at a point now where i just want to throw something at the screen whenever I see her name and face on a makeup blog.
Same here !
ditto
Also, my guess is that she’s going to choose Riri freaking Woo for Viva Glam. Jesus Christo, why don’t they hire her as chairwoman of the company, then?? Gosh. I’m SO tired of her campaigns.
Nope. And while I am very sympathetic towards women who have suffered physical and emotional abuse (my darling sister-in-law is one such person), I get so frustrated when I see a woman of considerable means, who has options and a voice and yet who is such a poor role model for young women in this regard.
what makes rihanna a poor role model in this regard? what is there to model? on the contrary, rihanna is an example that anybody can be a victim of domestic abuse. and a victim is just that — a victim. nobody is ever willingly abused, and to suggest otherwise is victim-blaming.
I think what Mariella means is that Rihanna should have stayed as far away as she could have from Chris Brown after the incident, instead of getting back into a relationship with him. No victim blaming in that, IMO.
shocker **sarcastic face** lol I already knew they would wit all this RiRi madness they been servin us since this summer!!
Yep, I was thinking the same thing. It’s all a money grab by MAC because of the success of the RiRi collection. And her colors were not even that amazing, in my opinion. Seemed like the same stuff they already had permanently.
money grab for a great cause this time! hopefully it’s gonna be a great colour and the Riri Navy comes out big so that a lot of money is made for the Aids fund
Next.
Is it just me or are others getting Rihanna out. this is what the 4th collection with here in a years time.
I don’t quite understand why she’s the spokesperson for this when she already does RiRi Hearts MAC. I mean, couldn’t they have found a different celebrity? It’s not like there’s a shortage…
Hearing about MAC’s releases is always good news and I’m glad that RiRi finally made it to that Hall of Fame that Viva Glam is. However, lately it looks as if she wanted to take over the whole company (not that I have a problem with that, just saying). 🙂
Honestly, Mac needs to give Rihanna a break.
Only good new from this is that everybody will want to buy her products and HIV/AIDS awareness will get $$$!
And if it’s Viva Glam RiRi Woo – def passing ha!
Well, not everybody will want to buy her products. I’m far more likely just to donate the cost of a lipstick (and then some) to an AIDS charity directly.
Rihanna’s going to need her own section/tab on your blog soon! Lol.. Love her!!!!
I don’t hate her, but I kind of wonder why they didn’t go in a different direction? I feel like there had to be another celebrity who could’ve been interested. Just feels like we’ve seen a lot of Rihanna lately due to the Riri collections and all…
Enough with this girl!
Won’t be buying anything from her. Worst spokesperson ever. No thanks. Too bad this hurts a good cause. :/
Rihanna?? Seriously!!??? There are other beautiful and successful celebrities out there, like katy perry, selina Gómez, beyonce etc
I totally Agree I would have loved to see Katy perry or someone else I think RiRi has amazing stly but like someone mentioned NOTHING in any of those collections was super original almost everything easily was duped with a mac Perm item I’m super disappointed I want some NEW amazing products Idc about packaging so much so its like BOOOO MAC do better lol
haha i knew it!! i was asking my mac sa and she wouldnt say who so i said i wouldnt be surprised if its Rhianna and she paused looked down and said yeah… hahaha i knew it. she knew and gave it away too. well i like Rhianna so thats cool for me. On RuPauls Drag Race there was a contest to see which queen should be a Viva Glam Spokesperson and i was like hmmmmm… does that mean they make a lipstick?
That seems like such an odd choice to me, since she did so many collections this year. Doesn’t really matter to me, though.
I honestly knew that was coming. Not surprised at all. Hopefully they come out with a new shade and not any from the recent or the upcoming collection.
You know what I’m over? All the Rihanna hate. If you support the cause and like the product then it seems a little petty/tacky to not get it just because you don’t like her. I will groan loudly if MAC just releases one of her collection lipsticks again for the VG shade, though.
i agree why so much disdain. i mean its still a MAC lipstick. And im sure they will have a new shade so they can get everyone to want it. All i care about is if i like the color. the money still goes to help aids victims
I don’t hate Rihanna, but I personally don’t see her as a positive representative for the cause. Since they have collaborated with her already in the past, I think people just want something new and fresh. Just because one doesn’t support Rihanna doesn’t mean you can’t support the Viva Glam cause, they have alot of lipsticks in the collection that you can purchase instead…
The chronically late, painfully irresponsible, immature, routinely inebriated entertainer that is supposed to now rep for raising AIDS awareness could not be a WORSE choice. She’s no activist, in fact I doubt she spends much time at all thinking about anyone other then herself. She opens her mouth and the painfully inane pours forth. I wasn’t fond of Fergie or Lady Gaga but I believe both do have genuinely altruistic interests. Rihanna is the poster girl for irresponsible choices, how does that serve or properly represent the campaign?
From her classy tweets from Phuket to her disastrous stunt at a mosque, I am so RiRi-ed out.
Right? Anyone who followed her concert tour or that disastrous flight with the journalists could not possibly see her as any kind of role model. I would love to see RuPaul give her a thorough dressing down.
SICK OF HER!
I wish they would’ve honestly just waited to do the RiRi hearts mac collections for a year until she was the vivaglam spokesperson! Honestly they could’ve had a cool collab, maybe with all the lipsticks they had in this collection make the ririwoo the official viva glam one and then have 1 other viva glam product with each collection. Now THAT would’ve been cool instead of dragging her out two whole years!
I’m not surprised! Haha I really like her music but I hope they work with another celebrities like Katy Perry, Florence Welch or Lana del Rey 🙂
Not buying anything she’s selling, sorry.
I lost all respect for Rihanna when she started glamorizing abusive relationships.. I might buy this product to support the Viva Glam cause, but I will never support Rihanna.
I agree 100%.
How on earth was she ‘glamorising’ abusive relationships?! She was a victim of domestic violence! Also, victims often return to their abuser, sometimes multiple times, before they can break the cycle and leave. The ignorance on display here is appalling.
I agree. Even though she states she doesn’t want to be an example for girls, not what she signed up for, she still is an example whether she likes it or not. I used to love her music and support her but after her down ward spiral, I couldn’t support anyone like that.
I don’t love or hate Rihanna, but I really hope they release a NEW and WEARABLE shade for the next Viva Glam colour. I quite like Nicki Minaj as an out there celeb, but her two shades weren’t colours I could justify buying. And I think anyone who wanted it will already have either Riri Woo or plain old Ruby Woo, so there isn’t much point making it a Viva Glam colour.
I don’t care about celebrities and their antics (usually) but I don’t want to see people not supporting a great cause because they don’t want/already have the promoted lipstick shade.
I really don’t understand this choice… She has already collaborated with MAC in the past, and I personally don’t find her to be the kind of person who I would want as a spokesperson… She isn’t a very good example for women out there with her wild and inappropriate behavior at times and the way she conducts herself… They couldn’t have found another young celebrity to represent this awesome cause… I miss the quality and vision MAC had in the 90’s…
You’re right. Back when MAC had more original and fresh ideas they were an independent company. Now they’re a corporate cow owned by Estee Lauder. It’s all about the $$$.
And it truly shows! Being swallowed by that conglomerate has been catastrophic in its effect on the brand. Its interesting now to see long time collectors liquidating their collections in total disgust with the changes.
So true! I feel like they just rush to put out these big collections without much thought to the quality or effectiveness of the products. I have also become HUGELY irritated with how many repromotes and repackaging of permanent collection products have been released with recent collections. It feels like a money grab, and doesn’t inspire much interest in me. I haven’t purchased an item from MAC in the longest time, with the exception of refilling old favorites like Face and Body foundation of Viva Glam 5 lipstick… I wish they would really take a moment to step back and refocus the brand on quality and creativity, which is something I always felt I could rely on them for in the past. This is especially important since their prices keep rising. I find myself reaching for more reliable brands like Laura Mercier or Trish McEvoy or Dior, even Urban Decay or Lorac, who seem to put our more consistantly high performing products… I’d rather have a product that performs as I expect it to than lots of flashy packaging or splashy promotional images that are impossible to recreate with the products in the collection alone.
I was in a abusive relationship when i was younger and i dislike all the judgements on Rhianna right now. She is only a human for goodness sakes. Give her a break!! Jus because she is gonna make a Viva Glam dosnt mean buying it supports her, she dosnt get money from the sale, charity does. Also, are we perfect?? NO so give a girl a break geez ppl
haha, i think everyone is riri’d out. should have picked britney spears!!!
*eyeroll* I have nothing against Rihanna but I feel like MAC just went in for the overkill. Personally, not a fan of her music or her but it wouldn’t hold me back from purchasing something cool from her collection. This just puts the hammer on the nail for me that my love affair with MAC is kinda over. Their lack of creativity and horrible LE launches come off to me as they are in it for the money which every company is but jeez at least the other companies try to put original/new things out there. Probably not fair to Rihanna but all of this RiRi stuff makes me so annoyed with anyone to do with her name lol. Every time I hear the Diamonds song I’m like NOOO YOU HAVE NO POWER IN MY CAR
*anything not anyone
so MAC is gonna make a ton load of money with this one and that’s a GREAT thing because all proceeds go to the MAC Aids fund! not gonna complain…hopefully it’s a great colour so we can all pick it up
Sigh, MAC ran out of new ideas a long time ago. For a long time now, the company has been coasting along on repulation and fan endorsements. If they want to continue much longer, the smartest thing to do would be dig in to their back catalog, and reissue some of the more popular discontinued items. Blush ombres, anyone? I even liked the old solar bits, and even older fans are sure to have many, many favourites which the company would do well to reissue.
I wonder what retro matte dupe of a permanent shade they’ll do this time!! =\ I’m tired of hearing about her.
gotta work the connection to death, huh? not exactly a creative choice, now is it?
The spokesperson for Vivaglam is role model and representative for an amazing cause. Rihanna has clearly stated numerous times that she is not a role model but an entertainer. I think MAC should have picked someone with more of a social conscious. As a caribbean women Rihanna offends all my sensibilities; aside from her over exposure (which on one hand could be potentially advantageous for this campaign), its her personal image and her lackadaisical attitude about how it affects others which I think could hurt this campaigns earning potential.
I think artists should think about how their work and their publicized, paparazzed lives effects the world and the times we live in. The whole question of “art imitating life, or life imitating art”………
I think anyone that is dedicated to raising awareness of the HIV/AIDS epidemics should be applauded.
Enough already. But leave it to MAC to beat a dead horse. Over and over and over again. $$$$$
Yes, MAC will raise a lot of money for AIDS research because they picked Rihanna but that doesn’t make me feel all warm and fuzzy . Why not pick someone who is known for supporting the AIDS cause, or ANY cause for that matter? MAC is just using Rihanna’s celebrity status to bring people in the door. Once the pushy SA’s get ahold of customers they’re going to buy more, which means more money in MAC’s pockets.
i’m very surprised that alicia keys has never been tapped! she’s very vocal through her Keep A Child Alive campaign. But i agree, i would like it to be someone who supports the cause, it comes off as someone who has never cared about the issue and just wants the contract money.
I’m a bit tired of her at this point. 3 collections, and now Viva Glam? It’s overkill.
It’s a bit of an overkill but her collections have been beautiful thus far..
This is entirely not shocking- their Rhianna collections have sold like gangbusters, so connecting her MAC brand and the Viva Glam brand would be a logical step.
You are never going to see a Beyonce or a Jennifer Lopez (another likely candidate, esp 5 or so years ago) because they have major contracts with L’Oreal.
As for Rihanna’s past (or present, I guess), the MAC AIDS fund started when AIDS still had a big stigma attached to it. They’ve always pushed the boundaries to get attention and picked people with extreme or interesting or colourful pasts. When the first spokesperson is a drag queen, the company is sending a message. Fergie had a meth addiction in her past. Pamela Anderson had a sex tape and her own history with domestic violence. Mary J Blige had drug addiction and domestic abuse in her past, and a scar on her face she won’t discuss. Lil’Kim was as out there as anyone and had jail time in her future (pay your taxes, lady.) Elton John and Ricky Martin were both in the closet at the height of their careers. These are people with baggage. They would associate with Rihanna because of that baggage, not despite it.
It’s completely ok if people are sick of Rihanna, but don’t dismiss the campaign just on that basis. Buy the lipstick because you like it or you believe in the cause. Or both. Which is what you should do anyway, no matter who the spokesperson is.
You make an incredibly valid argument here… I felt this way when Nicki Minaj’s Viva Glam… I don’t like her, the way she conducts herself, or even her music… but I bought the lipstick, because it was a beautiful color that I liked and I could support a wondeful cause while doing it… I find this more irritating though, because the’ve already come out with more than one Rhianna collabo already… There are so many young and interesting artists out there that fit the MAC image or edge and I think it would be nice to see something totally new…
Very thoughtful and insightful. You helped me see this from the other side. Thank you.
I’m not impressed by her image or her music but I hope it’s a great colour and raises lots of money. I’ll buy it if it’s something I can wear.
Not only do people with this deadly disease have to combat the physical pitfalls of HIV/AIDS, they must also endure the judgmental attitudes of people around them, which makes the comments surrounding MAC’s new spokesperson unsettling and ironic.
By that token I suppose we could pick ANYone for VG and it just wouldn’t matter. I work with children with HIV and other life circumstances that incur judgement from others and I can safely tell you that it’s ok to have an opinion on things like the VG campaign spokesperson. It seems like people are terrified of the word judgment, I don’t feel the need to vilify well contemplated and reasonable judgements. Those living with and affected by HIV/AIDS deserve a spokesperson who has respect for something other then an endless string of vapid selfies, which is all I see her producing right now. Oh and seeing how HIV/AIDS is a world problem, they might have chosen someone with an ounce of cultural sensitivity.
LOL I think Rihanna bought a majority ownership in MAC and just isnt telling anyone.
I can’t stand her or Chris Brown. Well at least it’s not Kim Kardassian.
im hoping for a pink or nude or purple. those are my faves. all i care is its a cool color personally i will most likely buy it. if not i have a list of past permanent viva glams i wanna purchase.
They should’ve given it to Ariana Grande. She’s got such a cute style that I could only imagine the pretty color and finish the lipstick would be.
LOL why WOULDN’T they have chosen Rihanna?– MAC is the makeup authority and most trend setting amongst every makeup line, and they need representatives that are as well. There is no one else in the industry who is as trend setting as Rihanna right now. No ones collection sold out as fast as hers did (3hours online), and at the end of the day, MAC’s main focus is its social responsibility to the MAC aids fund (viva glam), and they what the hottest person to help them towards that. We can all mention our personal choices, and argue about who would’ve been a “better” spokes person (LOL, some of us basing our opinions on her being a victim of domestic violence) but MAC has raised over 300 MILLION dollars with this fund, and they didn’t do it by choosing the WRONG people LOL. She’s going to be perfect!! RIHANNA FOR VIVAGLAM!!
I’m bored.
Big mistake MAC! Why in the world would you choose someone who was physically abused and then continues to stay with the abuser (chris brown). I am very disappointed in MAC and might possibly write a letter of complaint. I had always been a fan of rhihanna beforehand but she is absolutely NOT a good role model for other women. I read the horrifying details in the police report and anyone else who did would feel the same.
Hi Shannon,
You may want to read more about domestic violence, the cycle of domestic violence, and really, truly understand why victims often return to their abusers and that it can take many attempts to leave before they finally do. It is a very complicated issue.
http://www.nnedv.org/resources/stats/faqaboutdv.html
http://www.thewomenscenter.org/content.asp?contentid=537