The beauty industry is struggling with marketing saturation, compounded by an overcrowded content ecosystem in which traditional metrics like follower count and comments are often distorted by bots. To combat this, brands are turning to “anger bait” – content designed to trigger shock, anger or confusion and encourage shares and saves, which are now seen as more authentic indicators of engagement. From Lancôme’s “misdirected” PR mailers to ColourPop’s fake apology sections, the strategy bets that a negative or confused reaction is more valuable than no reaction at all in a world where attention is the ultimate currency.
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