On Strategy Showcase: Chris Beresford Hill Shares the Truth Behind Michael Cera for CeraVe

Podcast: On Strategy Showcase
Host: Fergus O’Carroll
Guest: Chris Beresford Hill (now Global Chief Creative Officer, BBDO; at time of campaign, President North America & Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy)
Episode Date: Nov 10, 2025
Topic: The strategy and creative journey behind the award-winning Michael Cera Super Bowl campaign for CeraVe

Episode Overview

This episode provides a deep dive into the origin, creative evolution, and rollout of the celebrated CeraVe “Michael Cera” Super Bowl campaign. Chris Beresford Hill takes listeners behind the scenes, revealing how the idea was sparked, the collaborative team effort, client dynamics with L’Oréal, and how instinct, risk, and great partnerships transformed a moisturizer brand into a cultural phenomenon.

The Brief and Background

The Ask:

• CeraVe (owned by L’Oréal) sought a breakthrough Super Bowl campaign.
• Emphasis: incorporate dermatologists (“developed with derms”) as a key differentiator (06:53).
• Broaden audience: appeal more to men, while maintaining female base (10:39).

Initial Context:

• Previous CeraVe work was pharmacy/health-focused, “not really breaking through” (11:26).
• Socially, CeraVe was prolific on TikTok with creators but scattered in approach.

Team Structure:

• Chris led a "skunk works" team from Ogilvy New York for focused, fast creative (08:03).
• Core team: Creatives (Alex Holm & Avi Steinbeck), Producers (Reagan & Marissa), Strategists (Carlos Dorenbaum, Ben Greengrass), Account leads (Tina & Liesel), Social & Influencer (led by Charlie Tonsil).
• "Small teams win big” – Chris’s mantra for project-based, high-stakes campaigns (08:03).

The Creative Genesis

• The challenge: Make “developed with derms” interesting and central (13:34).
• Early rounds produced several ideas; Michael Cera was in the mix, but not a clear favorite (16:17).
• The real breakthrough: A hallway conversation, sparked by Charlie Tonsil referencing an online joke about Michael Cera and CeraVe (18:31).
• The leap: “What if Michael Cera is delusional and claims he invented CeraVe?” (18:40).

Memorable Quote:

“Great ideas aren’t the result of brilliant engineering. They’re sparks, fun minds coming together and getting excited.” – Chris Beresford Hill (19:36)

• The pitch included three ideas (one involved Harrison Ford as a “skinfluencer”), but the team and ultimately the client gravitated to the Michael Cera concept (20:27).

Selling the Idea and Client Dynamics

• Pitch was headline-driven, emphasized PR hooks and the core TV/film idea—not an animatic (21:51).
• The pitch for Michael Cera: He claims, via misinformation, to have invented CeraVe, creates his own Super Bowl ad, gets shunned by dermatologists, and delivers an over-the-top apology video (22:12).

Taking a Risk:

“I told Adam [the client] that we kind of generally floated something [to Michael Cera’s agent] and he's very interested. That was not entirely the truth. But sometimes you’ve got to take a risk.” – Chris Beresford Hill (24:16)

• Winning the account required quick action to secure Cera’s interest (and roll the dice on his involvement).

The Michael Cera Factor:

• First Zoom: “He’s quite introverted…awkward, but not in a funny Arrested Development way.” (26:25)
• Chris pitched just the script, not the whole campaign ecosystem, to avoid overwhelming Cera.
• Cera’s understated reaction:

“I think that’s really good. I think that would be funny. That could be cool.” (27:15)

Navigating Brand and Client Challenges

• L’Oréal known for “clinical,” not creative, advertising. Resistance was expected (28:35).
• Creative tension: Brand wanted “right ad,” but the concept needed Cera’s ad to be intentionally “wrong.” (29:35)
• In production: Negotiated aesthetics (color, tone) to satisfy both CeraVe and L’Oréal standards (30:32).
• Editing clashes:

“Trying to explain why an irreverent line is funny…sort of becomes like a surreal experience.” (33:09)
“Sometimes the best things…are not intellectual choices, they’re instinctual.” (34:44)

• Chris describes painstaking reviews and “highly intellectual conversations around the jokes,” but ultimately, instinct—and consensus among “funny people”—won out.

Building a Modern Ecosystem: Social, Influencer, and Earned Media

PR & Social Was Key:

• From the outset, Chris and Charlie’s teams built a “modern shape” ecosystem, not just a TV spot (36:39).
• Chris acknowledged his own bias:

“I have to admit…I come from a 16x9 mindset. [Charlie] comes from a vertical phone mindset.” (36:39)

• Influencer learning curve: “Influencers aren’t your puppets…You’ve got to cast an influencer for their audience…You’ve got to look at…their shtick.” (38:52)
• Effective integration: “The 16x9 crowd got dragged into doing influencer properly.”
• Examples:
  • Michael Cera signing bottles in pharmacies, paparazzi-style content (42:29)
  • Social “prank” ecosystem blurred fiction/reality; kept audiences guessing before the Super Bowl spot aired (43:24).

Notable Campaign Moment:

• The TV spot’s impact was amplified because audiences “were already in the story…[the spot] was like an incredible release of strange tension that was building.” (43:24)

Memorable Michael Cera Ad Script Excerpt (44:52):

“I’m Michael Cera, and I’m pleased to announce that this is my cream, CeraVe. Oh, you didn’t know? The truth has been hiding in plain sight. I am CeraVe. Can human skin truly be this moisturized?”
“Let my cream hydrate you.”
“CeraVe, developed with Michael Cera…V. I just think it’d be really nice if people think that I make this. So that’s my thing.”

The Challenges and Lessons

• The process was full of “lost little battles in the edit,” but payoffs in market kept perspective (46:48).
• Shared a parallel from his famed “Guinness Wheelchair Basketball” spot: tension and fights in production can produce beloved, effective work (47:22).
• Creative leadership today means “dancing all the way through the finish line”—navigating client fears, talent quirks (Cera’s aversion to social media), and evolving expectations (49:05).
• For Cera, what unlocked his participation in social extensions was the frame: “We’re going to prank the Internet.” – a creative, not marketing-led, appeal (50:38).

Chris on Modern Creative Leadership:

“Having a great idea is one thing, but then it really is being creative the whole way through…and you have not finished when you come up with the creative idea; you have to be creative to tap dance your way all the way through the finish line.” (51:36)

Final Reflections and Team Recognition

• Chris credits his “village” (full team list at the start), Ogilvy leadership, and a collaborative, creative client (53:04).

“It’s a tough industry, but when you make it a team sport, you know, it works.” – Chris Beresford Hill (53:04)

Key Timestamps & Highlights

| Timestamp | Segment | | --- | --- | | 03:21 | CeraVe’s background; client asks for Super Bowl | | 06:53 | Full team and “skunk works” approach | | 11:26 | Brief emphasizes “developed with derms” | | 14:33 | Social listening begins; initial ideas formed | | 18:31 | Hallway brainstorm: Michael Cera claims CeraVe | | 21:51 | Pitch style – PR headline driven | | 24:16 | Taking ownership, “selling” Cera before confirmation | | 27:15 | Michael Cera responds positively but understatedly | | 28:35 | L’Oréal’s non-creative culture; getting bold work approved | | 33:09 | On explaining humor to clients | | 36:39 | Social/Influencer integration and “vertical vs. horizontal” mindsets | | 42:29 | On earned media “prank” elements (CeraVe bottle signing, paparazzi) | | 43:24 | The Super Bowl spot as release/culmination | | 47:22 | Ownership of creative battles and wins | | 50:38 | How they got Michael Cera into social—“pranking the internet” | | 53:04 | Final team and cultural reflections |

Notable Quotes

• “Great ideas aren’t the result of brilliant engineering. They’re sparks, fun minds coming together and getting excited.” (19:36)
• “Sometimes the best things…are not intellectual choices, they’re instinctual.” (34:44)
• “I have to admit…I come from a 16x9 mindset. [Charlie] comes from a vertical phone mindset.” (36:39)
• “Influencers aren’t your puppets.” (38:52)
• “Having a great idea is one thing, but then it really is being creative the whole way through…and you have not finished when you come up with the creative idea; you have to be creative to tap dance your way all the way through the finish line.” (51:36)
• “It’s a tough industry, but when you make it a team sport, you know, it works.” (53:04)

Takeaways for Marketers & Creatives

• Instinct matters: Some of the most effective creative happens in a “spark”—don’t over-intellectualize every decision.
• Modern campaigns are true ecosystems: Coordinating vertical (social, influencer) and horizontal (TV/film) thinking is critical.
• Client partnership is everything: Even with resistance, clarity of vision and relentless creative problem-solving can win.
• Selling big ideas requires risk—and a little poker face.
• “Birthing” a great idea is as hard as “conceiving”—be prepared for tension.
• Team sport: Creative, social, PR, and client teams must collaborate closely.

For more, listen to the episode and see the campaign’s creative at On Strategy Showcase’s website.