Anyone who loves Christmas invariably loves Mariah Carey‘s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” song. That song is Christmas. But when Sephora rolled out its first holiday ad of 2025 on Nov. 1 and Mariah Carey was front and center belting out her signature “It’s tiiiime,” the sentiment fell a little flat.
In the ad, which was posted on X (formerly Twitter), Mariah stops an elf from stealing her Sephora loot, but he tells her he plans to sell it to help him pay for therapy.
She then gets the glam products back and spends Christmas Eve dropping Sephora gift bags down chimneys. And, according to some on social media, the ad comes at a time when billion dollar corporations are missing the mark in a big way.
Unfortunately for Mariah and all of her little Stans who are also going to bat for her on the internet, she is caught in this because of her role in Christmas. Sorry, Mimi.
It's Time!!!🎄🎁 #SephoraPartner pic.twitter.com/TkmAh7qXAV
— Mariah Carey (@MariahCarey) November 1, 2025
Mariah Carey’s Sephora ad couldn’t come at a worse time.
Mariah releases an ad every season featuring her now iconic “it’s tiiiime” melody. In her 2025 ad, this time with Sephora, Mariah tells her elf he “can’t cancel Christmas” and turns him into a snowman.
Some people took this to be a direct slap in the face from not only Sephora but from the bigwigs who aren’t suffering because of financial hardships, the government shutdown, or the Trump Administration in general.
Whether that was the intention or not, the ad was released at a terrible time, and it is definitely giving more of the “Let them eat cake” vibe that those close to Trump have given off amid the SNAP benefit crisis, nationwide layoffs at various companies and media conglomerates, and ICE raids across the country. Again I say, worst timing ever.
I hope that Mariah Carey Sephora ad was sum AI bs a weird stan created cause there’s no way in hell these rich ppl are playing in our faces about not spending our money on places that don’t care about human rights…right pic.twitter.com/shn9eqsGVA
— 🇵🇸Hotep Steve Martin (@kkaemdongie) November 3, 2025
One user wrote in an X post, “Mocking the working class while asking for money at the same time…in 2025…? They know what they’re doing. This was strategic.”
Someone else posted that the ad is “suspicious” and that most companies should know that many Americans feel the need to “boycott Christmas” in 2025.
“That Mariah Carey Sephora ‘you can’t cancel Christmas’ ad feels coercive,” they wrote on X. “F— Thanksgiving and Christmas this year. These corporations know people are boycotting the holidays this year and they release ad like that???? Suspicious.”
Others are straight up boycotting Sephora, especially because there were rumors during the 2024 campaign that the company donated to Trump. According to Reuters, the company denied donating to Trump’s campaign, but there are still plenty of people who don’t believe that.
THAT was the ad that Sephora and Mariah Carey decided to go with?? In THIS climate??? pic.twitter.com/kRw3zI3P3z
— Asst to the Regional Manager (@MaeLiing) November 3, 2025
“Mariah Carey is trash for working with Sephora knowing they donated tons of money to Donald Trump’s campaign!” Someone posted on X. “Her “it’s time” scam video is an ad for Donald Trump’s b—-, aka @Sephora.”
While someone else pointed out that Mariah puts out an ad every year around the holidays, other fans haven’t been so forgiving. The issue is that they believe Mariah didn’t consider the other message underneath the general plot of her Sephora ad.
It’s also a stark reminder of the difference in classes, especially during the 2025 holiday season.
