How Olaplex tackled dupe culture with its latest TikTok campaign

Olaplex has addressed dupe culture on social media with a playful campaign highlighting that its products are actually "undupable".

Olaplex is one of the most duped haircare brands on TikTok, with the hashtag #OLAPLEXDUPE generating over 30 million views.

However, the brand said it is "literally impossible" to dupe Olaplex products because of their "patents, unique ingredients, bond-building technology, and effective results".

To spread this message, Olaplex joined the narrative around dupe culture with a fun campaign led by education.

Using social listening tools, the brand identified how often it was being duped and introduced OLADUPÉ to "show consumers that the only company that could actually dupe Olaplex, is Olaplex itself".

@olaplex #OLAPLEX just can’t be duped. 160 patents say so. 💅😌 Let us know in the comments, did you get duped? Share this with someone looking for the real #hairrepair hero! #undupable #oladupe ♬ original sound - olaplex

As part of this, the brand launched a fictitious OLADUPÉ product with an unboxing campaign featuring over 100 earned and paid influencers.

Consumers were driven to Oladupe.com, where the first 160 people to register were sent a free bottle of OLADUPÉ (actually a bottle of Olaplex No. 3, explaining the joke).

@olaplex Hear it first from #OLAPLEX CEO @Ju E Wong –with over 160 patents, OLAPLEX is truly #UNDUPABLE ♬ original sound - olaplex

The secret was also later revealed on social media, with the brand, influencers and professionals sharing that OLADUPÉ was actually the Olaplex No. 3 Hair Perfector all along.

JuE Wong, CEO of Olaplex, said: "Olaplex is the real deal, a brand that is truly "undupable," and the foundation of this is our underlying technology, which is peerless in the industry.

"Olaplex is known by consumers and the industry as a socially native brand. This campaign tapped into the cultural zeitgeist, meeting consumers where they are and playfully educating them on the one-of-a-kind and proven repair and strengthening benefits of our bond-building technology, which cannot be copied or duped."