Here’s the Big Issue People Have With the Mariah Carey Sephora Ad

Nothing screams “it’s Christmas time” louder than Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” playing in the background of your local Target. It’s basically the unofficial way of announcing that the Christmas season has officially kicked off. While her song does it unintentionally, Mariah does it on purpose with her annual Nov. 1 video, a tradition she started in 2019 and has kept going ever since, where she trades her Halloween vibes for cozy Christmas magic.

In each one of her holiday videos, she belts out her signature high note and declares, “It’s time,” and people have really grown to love it. But this year, Mariah’s catching a little heat, because instead of her usual festive announcement, she decided to merge the moment with a Sephora ad. And let’s just say, not everyone is feeling excited about it. Here’s a breakdown of Mariah Carey’s “It’s Time” Sephora ad controversy.

A lot of people are taking issue with Mariah Carey’s “It’s Time” Sephora ad because of the context of the video. In fact, some are flat-out calling it tone-deaf.

For context, in the video, Mariah is dressed in a white angel costume for Halloween. Just as she’s about to make her big “It’s time” announcement, she realizes some of her makeup is missing from her Sephora bag. “Spill the tea. Who’s the thief?” she says, and that’s when comedian Billy Eichner makes his appearance, fessing up to the theft while dressed as an elf.

“Busted! Bad news, Mariah Carey, the elves are striking this year. Elf revenge for putting us through holiday hell. Santa’s helper quit. I’m pawning all this so I can afford elf therapy,” he says.

Mariah fires back, “That’s my blush, elf boy,” to which he responds, “Your lipstick? I’m taking it. Christmas is canceled. No bells, no cheer, no glam. Bye, sweetie.”

Mariah then tells him Christmas can’t be canceled and saves the moment by singing her famous “It’s time,” transforming into a festive holiday outfit. Meanwhile, Billy’s elf character turns into an animated snowman, forced to work anyway. And that’s what really set people off. One person commented under the video, “So the message here is: working class on strike for being overworked and underpaid gets turned into a snowman and is forced to work anyway?”

The timing of it also seemed very off. Many people have already voiced plans to cut back on Christmas spending this year, citing rising costs and interruptions to federal benefits. TikToker @jasminahinton was one of many who weighed in, saying, “It’s a dig at people for boycotting all these corporations,” suggesting the ad might be “rage bait,” similar to the American Eagle campaign featuring Sydney Sweeney.

She believes the ad is quite literally taking a jab at the American working class, especially with the elf saying he’s pawning makeup for “elf therapy.”

Others have also pointed out that the ad seems to contradict the message behind Mariah’s classic “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” The song’s all about love, not pricey gifts, while the Sephora ad leans more into material things. Simply put, the ad’s message doesn’t exactly match the spirit of the song it’s tied to.

While tons of people are taking to social media to say how offended and shocked they are by the Sephora ad featuring Mariah Carey, others don’t think it’s that big of a deal. But to those who are offended, like @jasminahinton, they say this “is a class war.” She says the problem is people just sit back and “consume s--t,” and that’s exactly why the world is in the situation it’s in.

While many are now trying to boycott Sephora over the ad, TikToker @thesashawhitney made a good point, saying the people who are outraged aren’t Sephora’s target audience anyway. And despite how mocking it may have seemed, there are still plenty of people who are going to shop till they drop and max out their credit cards to have a “fruitful” Christmas.