how to spot a marketing ✨fairytale✨

Hey,

A few weeks back Hailey Bieber’s brand Rhode was acquired by e.l.f. for $1B.

The story hit LinkedIn like a freight train—a deluge of celebratory content that read like a fairytale. Buzzy discourse about how strategic branding and intentional digital engagement can transform a "tiny idea" into a billion-dollar acquisition. Posts focused on the founder success narrative, transforming Hailey Bieber from just an influencer/pop star's wife to a marketing genius.

One post started with the hook, “Hailey Bieber's Rhode’s $1B acquisition isn’t just impressive, it’s instructive,”  attaching a vague, possibly AI-generated 10-slide "strategic blueprint" for other founders. Good news, girlboss—a billion-dollar acquisition can be yours in just 5 quick lessons! *eye roll*

Most of these posts also didn’t hesitate to remind the audience that the success of this acquisition had nothing to do with luck or hype. *another eye roll*

I don’t know about you, but I’d consider inheriting immense wealth and influence from your showbiz family to be pretty freakin’ lucky.

Hailey didn’t bootstrap Rhode from her kitchen table. She launched Rhode with an existing massive platform, industry connections, access to any agency of her choosing. And while she may be the face of the brand, she isn’t the sole orchestrator of its success like these narratives suggest—not by a long shot.

Rhode is the product of a well-resourced, well-connected machine that was primed to win from day one.

That fairytale narrative? Every PR agency's dream scenario. Hailey's reputation had been in shambles—public backlash, divorce rumours, bullying accusations—all softened since her debutante introduction as a mogul.

And the sale itself was unusually fast—shotgun wedding fast—especially for a brand with a small product line, no publicly shared financials, and $212M in annual revenue. Not to mention, e.l.f. allegedly took on $600M worth of debt to finance it. The lack of transparency around the high valuation is…weird.

Success stories like these are sexy. That’s why LinkedIn is also brimming with similar mythologized tales of success about famous “self-starters” like El*n Musk and Kylie Jenner. These narratives support the illusion that with a little hustle and determination, you can achieve it too.

But not all success stories are what they seem, so before you hand over your oohs and ahhs, run the narrative through a BS detector to figure out if it’s a fairytale or the real deal. Ask yourself:

1. Is there tangible data? How transparent is the info? Is it trackable? Are there specific metrics, baselines, financial data, or timeframes, or just vague claims?
2. Did the subject’s actions actually cause the result? What actually drove the results? Is there evidence of clear testing, experimentation, or logic showing their strategy?
3. Is this story accessible? Could someone without unique resources replicate these results? Do they share the real steps, costs, tools, and time required—or is it glossed over?
4. Who’s telling the story—and why? Is this from an independent source, or someone trying to sell you something?
5. What’s missing? Do they skip over failures, privilege, resources, or lucky timing?

Let's run Rhode through this detector:

1. Tangible data? We know they reported $212M in annual revenue in the last year, but no CAC, profitability, no retention metrics.
2. Causality? There’s no denying that the branding is good, but a well-funded team did the heavy lifting.
3. Accessibility? Could you replicate this without 55 million Instagram followers and nepo baby cash?
4. Source? Mostly from business/beauty media and marketers hyping the win.
5. What's missing? Her immense privilege and access (conveniently) aren’t part of the story.

Result: ✨marketing fairytale✨

The irony is that as marketers, we should know better, yet we fall for these stories all the time. A healthy dose of skepticism goes a long way in separating relatable growth stories from all of the BS.

Stay informed, friends!

Ines

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