VIVA MAC Fashion Cosmetics
VIVA MAC: AIDS, Fashion, and the Philanthropic Practices of MAC Cosmetics
The cover of “VIVA MAC: AIDS, Fashion, and the Philanthropic Practices of MAC Cosmetics”, 2021 Heritage Toronto Awards Book Nominee. Cover illustration: Donald Robertson.
Author: Andrea Benoit
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
Viva MAC is the first cultural history of the iconic Toronto-founded brand M·A·C Cosmetics, VIVA M·A·C charts the evolution of M·A·C’s revolutionary corporate philanthropy around HIV/AIDS awareness. Drawing upon exclusive interviews with M·A·C co-founder Frank Toskan, key journalists, and fashion insiders, Andrea Benoit tells the fascinating story of how M·A·C’s unique style of corporate social responsibility emerged from specific cultural practices, rather than being part of a strategic marketing plan. This lively chronicle reveals how M·A·C managed to not only defy the stigma associated with AIDS that alarmed many other corporations, but to engage in highly successful AIDS advocacy while maintaining its creative and fashionable authority.
Andrea Benoit is the academic review officer in the Faculty of Arts and Science at the University of Toronto and an adjunct assistant professor of media studies in the Faculty of Information and Media Studies at Western University.