Right the Story - Cheekbone Beauty | Clapboard Ad Archive
Cheekbone Beauty’s Right the Story campaign, launched in tandem with Sid Lee and Sephora Canada in the beauty category in 2021, reframes the conversation about Indigenous representation by deploying a short film that insists Indigenous peoples themselves must take control of how their identities are portrayed in the media. The brand’s Indigenous ownership and mission to empower Indigenous youth manifest in a creative platform that sidesteps familiar product-centric tropes, instead advocating for narrative sovereignty and cultural redefinition. At the heart of the concept is a striking use of symbolism: rather than reenacting the stereotypical misrepresentations Indigenous peoples have long endured, the film undertakes the act of righting the story as a metaphor for reclaiming agency, embedding the movement in a layered visual analogy that achieves resonance without recourse to overt didacticism. This reflects what Clapboard’s taxonomy would classify as FORMAT#3—Symbolize the Problem, opting for emotive metaphor over literal portrayal to dramatize representational injustice in the media landscape. Cheekbone Beauty sets itself apart from legacy and contemporary rivals alike—not entering the inclusivity discourse as a gesture, but as an assertion of identity with direct ties to its community and cultural history, speaking credibly to Indigenous youth and to Canadian society at large. By leveraging an alliance with Sid Lee’s strategic creativity and Sephora Canada’s industry heft, the campaign achieves relevance beyond beauty, positioning Cheekbone as a catalyst within a broader context of social discourse. The brand foregrounds the hashtag RightTheStory to foster active engagement and extend the film’s narrative across digital channels, inviting reflection, dialogue, and a participatory rewriting of cultural stories. The campaign’s creative restraint and confident symbolism offer a powerful counterpoint to legacy beauty marketing, signaling to the industry a move toward storytelling that is both mission-driven and commercially astute. The campaign earns 74/100 in Clapboard’s global creative archive. As a moment within beauty’s evolving landscape, Right the Story signals that authentic representation is shifting from marketable talking point to strategic, long-term value for brands willing to invest in honest cultural leadership.
.webp)
