The Ordinary takes aim at skincare pseudoscience

The Ordinary has launched The Periodic Fable™, a visually surreal campaign that tackles one of the beauty industry’s most slippery issues: misleading marketing jargon.

Created with Uncommon Creative Studio, the campaign swaps the symbols of the periodic table for 49 familiar buzzwords like “magic,” “fat freezing,” and “medical grade” — a direct call-out to the kind of pseudo-scientific language that’s become standard across product labels and ads.

In a dystopian-style film directed by Olivia De Camps and produced by Smuggler, a hypnotised classroom of students mimics viral skincare trends like “ice rolling” and “morning shed.”

Each movement is choreographed to echo sculpting massage techniques, with the class reciting fabricated elements until one student breaks from the trance.

Alarmingly more than half (51%) of UK skincare shoppers more likely to trust a product described as ‘luxury’, and 1 in 10 of their `US counterparts would splash out a hefty $75 more on a product that has ‘rare ingredients’.

The campaign lands across OOH, social, and influencer channels in the UK, US, and Canada, supported by a digital experience where users can click through The Periodic Fable™ to unpack what each term really means — or doesn’t.

It’s the latest in a string of purpose-driven moves from The Ordinary, a brand that’s built its reputation on ingredient transparency and anti-hype positioning.

Uncommon co-founder Nils Leonard calls the work “a truth serum the beauty industry has been avoiding for decades,” while The Ordinary’s VP of Brand, Amy Bi, says the aim was to make their transparency mission resonate in a new way: “Consumers have the right to know what they’re purchasing — and what words are ultimately just marketing tactics.”

The result is part satire, part teaching tool, and a timely reminder that not all science-adjacent language is grounded in fact — especially when it’s used to sell hope in a bottle.

Health & Beauty