How Vaseline turned verified hacks into new products and partnerships

For well over a century, millions of people have been using Vaseline in creative ways. A dab on leather to revive tired handbags. A little smoothed onto skin to prevent friction in sports. The slugging phenomenon – a beauty craze where Vaseline Jelly is applied to the face to hydrate the skin overnight for glowing results the next morning.

In 2025, Vaseline showed consumers it had been listening all along. The Vaseline Verified campaign launched to acknowledge the myriads of Vaseline hacks circulating online for beauty, lifestyle, sports and more, and put them to the test. Those that worked were awarded the Vaseline Verified seal of approval, and Vaseline amplified the voices of creators and communities where its proven hacks were shared.

The campaign was a hit, helping to achieve double-digit growth for Vaseline and win record levels of engagement, views and impressions for the brand, along with some of the biggest awards in the marketing world.

Now Vaseline is going further still, turning Verified hacks into real products and unexpected sponsorships, and connecting with a new generation of consumers.

Introducing Vaseline Originals

Vaseline Originals is a first of-its-kind product line that recently launched exclusively on TikTok Shop in Thailand – the perfect beauty-forward market for a social-first drop – with two new creator-driven products born directly from some of the most popular Vaseline beauty hacks.

The Vaseline Originals All-In-One Primer & Highlighter Jelly takes the long-established hack of using Vaseline Petroleum Jelly to prime the complexion and deliver a glass-skin glow, providing the product in a stick format for easy use.

The Vaseline Originals Brow Tamer Jelly is a wand format with a spoolie at the end, providing a modern take on the trick of using Vaseline Jelly to sculpt, shape and set brows with a natural finish.

Both sold out in minutes, with a second stock also selling out in April.

To make the launch ultra-relevant for beauty fans, Vaseline hosted a TikTok Live event featuring influencers Jen Chae and Lauren Luke, two of the earliest content creators known to Vaseline, whose hacks helped inspire the Vaseline Originals products.

“Our community has always shaped how Vaseline is used,” says Nathalia Amadeu, Global Brand Director, Vaseline. “With Vaseline Originals, we have taken those timeless beauty rituals and reimagined them for today – creating products that are rooted in real behaviour but designed for modern beauty routines and platforms.”

Making ‘The Nipple Sponsorship’ official

Beauty is big business, but the second Vaseline Verified hack that is levelling up this year is in an entirely different area: long-distance running. The brand’s research revealed 92% of marathon runners experience chafing, and one in three experience nipple chafing specifically.

Runners already know what works, and 64% say they used Vaseline Jelly to reduce friction and protect their skin – a simple solution proven over miles. Now Vaseline’s taking it further.

The Nipple Sponsorship was born from this insight, formalising a behaviour that had long existed within running culture. Rather than inventing a new product or creating a new need, Vaseline elevated an existing community hack onto the world stage. As part of the global campaign, in April, the brand partnered with the TCS 2026 London Marathon as the Official Nipple Protector, providing products to help 50,000 runners go the distance focused on the finish line, not the friction.

But this wasn’t a traditional sponsorship. Instead of simply buying logo space, Vaseline showed up at the point of need, providing tried and tested nipple protection for runners at ‘Nip Stops’ along the route. And the campaign extended far beyond London. Across Barcelona, Caracas, Singapore, Sydney, Rotterdam and Hong Kong, Vaseline embedded itself within local running communities through race-day activations, run clubs and expos tailored to each market’s culture. Online, the campaign was amplified through creator partnerships, Reddit conversations, social storytelling and bold out-of-home executions, turning a niche running truth into a global cultural moment.

“The running community has always built a culture around sharing what works, and The Nipple Sponsorship recognises a hack runners have trusted for decades,” says Nathalia. “This is about showing up in the moments that matter, transforming a trusted solution into a meaningful brand experience through unexpected partnerships that authentically embed Vaseline within culture.”

Elevating an iconic brand

From glass skin to guarded nipples, the latest iteration of Vaseline Verified is a clear example of Unilever’s social-first marketing strategy in action. The Vaseline Originals line is community-led brand building where influencers and consumers have helped shape premium product innovation and irresistible new launches. The Nipple Sponsorship takes a trusted solution and puts it on the world stage, turning an everyday runner truth into an unforgettable brand story that travels far beyond the finish line.

By recognising how consumers are already using its products, and then building carefully around those truths, Vaseline is converting long-established loyalty into culturally relevant campaigns with real commercial momentum.

Vaseline Originals won six awards at the 2026 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity: one Gold, three Silver and two Lions. Vaseline Verified also won six Lions, and Vaseline was awarded 20 Lions in total.

Frequently asked questions

• What is Vaseline Verified?

  Vaseline Verified saw Vaseline officially validate uses of the brand’s iconic Vaseline Jelly in beauty, sports and lifestyle hacks shared on social media. Unilever scientists tested several of the uses that consumers and influencers recommended and have now created products and partnerships around those verified consumer truths.

• Does Vaseline prevent chafing when running?

  Yes. Vaseline Jelly has long been used by runners worldwide to reduce friction and prevent chafing, and it was recognised as the Official Nipple Protector of the TCS 2026 London Marathon. Vaseline’s research showed 64% of runners used Vaseline Jelly to help prevent nipple chafing.

• Can you use Vaseline as a face primer and to tame eyebrows?

  Using Vaseline Jelly as a face primer to create a glass-skin glow is one of the most enduring beauty hacks on the internet, with creators first sharing the technique as far back as 2008. Vaseline has now turned this verified hack into an official product: the Vaseline All-In-One Primer and Highlighter, part of the limited-edition Vaseline Originals collection. The brand has also launched Vaseline Brow Tamer Jelly to sculpt, shape and set brows with a natural finish.