Mariah Carey’s love for the holiday season has always run deep, but some critics say the Queen of Christmas is taking things a bit too far this year.
On Nov. 1, the singer released a video on her Instagram page to unofficially declare that the holiday season had begun. It’s become a tradition for the star in recent years, much to the delight of many Christmas lovers who are equally as eager to start celebrating.
However, this year’s video doubles as an ad for a major beauty retailer, and its message is rubbing some consumers the wrong way.
Here’s everything you need to know about the controversy.
What is Mariah Carey’s ‘It’s Time’ tradition?
Mariah Carey’s iconic hit, “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” is emblematic of the entire holiday season. Those opening notes send a message: Christmas is here.
In 2020, the singer played into the annual hype by beginning a new “It’s Time” tradition.
Every year, Carey now announces the unofficial start of the holiday season on Nov. 1 in a video posted to her social media accounts.
The short videos typically show Carey transitioning from Halloween to Christmas and singing “It’s time” as she hits the high notes like only she can. “All I Want for Christmas Is You” then plays.
In 2024, the “It’s Time” video featured Carey dressed up as Morticia Addams from “The Addams Family.” By the end of the video, she’d transformed into a winter wonderland and was ready to spread Christmas cheer.
The 2022 video showed Carey dressed as a witch while she rode a bicycle. Soon, she was in a Santa jumpsuit on top of a reindeer.
What happens in the 2025 version?
Carey’s “It’s Time” videos aren’t typically advertisements, but this year’s installment is an ad for Sephora.
The 2025 edition begins with Carey dressed in a white gown with angel wings.
“Halloween slayed but now it’s ti….. ,” she says as she begins to sing in her signature high-pitch.
However, Carey is interrupted as she notices that her bag of Sephora beauty products has been ransacked.
“Spill the tea. Who’s the thief?” she says.
Comedian Billy Eichner, dressed as an elf, walks away and says, “Busted! Bad news, Mariah Carey, the elves are striking this year. Elf revenge for putting us through holiday hell. Santa’s helper quit. I’m pawning all this so I can afford elf therapy.”
“That’s my blush, elf boy,” Carey quips.
“Your lipstick, I’m taking it. Christmas, it’s cancelled. No bells, no cheer, no glam. Bye sweetie,” Eichner says.
An indignant Carey then says, “You can’t cancel Christmas.”
“Any last worlds?” Eichner says.
“Yeah,” Carey says. “It’s time!”
As she sings, Eichner freezes and transforms into a snowman. Carey then appears dressed in a Santa-inspired ensemble, driving a sleigh. As she makes her way around the world, she drops a Sephora bag into one chimney.
Carey captioned the video with the hashtag #SephoraPartner and the words “It’s Time!!!🎄🎁.”
Why is this year’s video receiving backlash?
After watching the video on Carey’s Instagram page, some media users were thoroughly amused.
“Mariah you deserve every last bit of this check baby !!” one wrote.
Another called it “so iconic.”
Others were more critical of the ad’s premise and execution, especially given the context it’s landing in.
TikTok user @njml5 felt it mocked consumers who were planning to sit out Black Friday and Christmas shopping this year.
“The commercial is corny, period. But they are definitely mocking the people, working class people, who have decided, ‘You know what? I’m not fueling this economy. I’m not spending all this money on Black Friday. I’m not spending all this money on Christmas fueling the economy when the economy is not fueling us,'” she said in a video.
Mariah Carey was asked if she would ever go to outer space in a recent interview. Her response shocked the show’s host.
TikTok user @millennial.mia also critiqued the ad in a post of her own, saying it was “one of the most tone deaf advertisements we have seen in this entire year.”
“At a time right now where 42 million Americans aren’t able to put food on the table. People who are working for the federal government are not being paid. You want to post about Mariah saving Christmas? Well, how about Mariah, actually do something about, oh I don’t know, saving Christmas? Or how about you, Sephora, why don’t you step in and do something charitable instead of profitable for a change?” she said.
TikTok user @nathanramospark pointed out that “All I Want for Christmas Is You” is, at its core, an “anti-capitalism song” since it talks how gifts don’t matter. The song goes, “All I want for Christmas is you,” after all.
“But then you have a company use this song to somehow, because it has an emotional connection, they strip it of its meaning so that they can sell literal makeup,” he said.
The social media user also encouraged other Americans to tune in to what the song is supposed to mean.
“Just go back to the original meaning of the song. The original intent, that is what Christmas is about. Christmas is about sharing love and tidings of good cheer,” he said.
Others were turned off by one major element of the video: a worker who wants to go on strike but is unable to do so.
“So the message here is ‘working class on strike for being overworked and underpaid gets turned into snowman and is forced to work anyway’?” one Instagram user commented.
It’s worth noting that this isn’t the first time Carey and Eichner have teamed up to spread holiday cheer. In 2020, the comedian was one of several stars to appear in Carey’s Apple TV special, “Mariah Carey’s Magical Christmas Special.
In a trailer for the special, Eichner is dressed up as an elf, wearing an outfit similar to — but not exactly like — the one he wears in the 2025 “It’s Time” video.
This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:
Mariah Carey is mourning the loss of her mother and sister, who died on the same day over the weekend. The Grammy winner announced the sad news on Monday.
