Garnier Fructis new bearded rocker ads

Garnier’s new campaign for their Fructis range features three images of three different men, each sporting enormously long beards.

But when you look a little closer you realize that they aren’t beards – they are in fact the long tresses of three women, each posing chest-to-chest with the men to create a very hairy optical illusion.

In order to stress that Garnier’s Fructis products are unisex, the beauty brand teamed up with Swiss advertising agency Publicis Zurich and photographers Billy & Hells to create a series of gender-bending photos.

The photographers positioned three tough-looking men against walls, then placed three women with long hair – one blonde, one brunette, one auburn – in front of them, creating the impression that the women’s cascading locks are in fact the men’s beards.

All of the models are wearing black T-shirts and dark jeans or trousers, and the women have wrapped their arms around the back of the men, meaning that their smaller bodies are almost entirely invisible.

The man then places his hands in the belt loop or back pocket of the woman’s trousers, suggesting that they are in fact his legs. The three print visuals are branded with German words which translate as: “For every hair type.”