Maybelline has traded one of beauty advertising’s most recognizable slogans for a version that critics say erases the women the brand spent decades targeting as customers. According to The Gateway Pundit, the cosmetics giant changed “Maybe she’s born with it, maybe it’s Maybelline.” to “Maybe we’re born with it.”
For more than three decades, Maybelline used the original line in its advertising campaigns. After 35 years, the company is giving the slogan a makeover, moving away from “she” and toward “we.” Apparently, even a classic beauty tagline now needs a corporate identity seminar. The new language is presented as a message about identity and possibility, but women online saw something else: a brand dropping the word that made its most famous pitch unmistakably female.
On its website, the company explained, “At Maybelline, “Maybe” means possibility. We believe everyone is born with infinite possibility. It’s not a question about what you could be; it’s a statement about all you can become. A new shade, a different look, a new mood, makeup can help you explore what feels possible, express yourself and feel more confident,” the company said on its website.
Maybelline also says, “MAYBE. IS IN OUR DNA,” and says everyone is born with the potential to become anyone they choose. That may sound like an invitation to personal expression, but it also reads like the sort of polished corporate language that tries to make a controversial change sound inevitable. Consumers are allowed to notice when a familiar message is being rewritten, especially when the rewrite appears to push women out of the spotlight.
Women responded with plenty of skepticism. One social media user said, “Trying to erase women is a sure way to erase your brand.” Another wrote, “Well then maybe “WE” won’t be buying any of their products.” A third user said, “Maybe “It’s” Born With It. Maybe women should boycott the brand.” The familiar phrase “Get woke, go broke,” appeared as another blunt response.
Fox News also posted about the change on X, and the post was included in the report:
After 35 years, Maybelline is giving one of beauty’s most recognizable slogans a makeover.
The brand is moving away from its famous “Maybe she’s born with it. Maybe it’s Maybelline” tagline, shifting from “she” to “we” with a new message about identity and possibility.
“MAYBE.… pic.twitter.com/rCAS5eg5N6
— Fox News (@FoxNews) November 12, 2026
The revised tagline follows Maybelline’s earlier “bearded beauty” campaign, in which the cosmetics giant featured a bearded man using its products. The report presents that campaign as part of the same broader shift. For customers who prefer straightforward advertising aimed at women, the sequence is not difficult to understand, and it is not surprising that boycott talk followed.
Companies can change slogans, but customers can change brands. When a company spends decades building recognition around a simple line and then swaps out its central pronoun, it should expect people to ask why. Maybelline’s explanation may satisfy corporate marketers, but the women criticizing the change are not confused about what they saw. As one commenter put it, “Get woke, go broke.” That reaction is now attached to a slogan that once needed no explanation at all.
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