A lot of people have been asking if Drunk Elephant is shutting its doors. Short answer: no, Drunk Elephant is not going out of business. The skin care brand, which you’ve probably seen stacked on Sephora’s shelves for years, got hit with some real challenges. But it’s not vanishing it’s revamping.
Drunk Elephant: The Recent Struggles
Drunk Elephant’s problems didn’t just appear out of thin air. The brand is owned by Shiseido, a big Japanese beauty group that paid almost $850 million for it back in 2019. Fast forward, and as of early 2025, sales were already headed steeply downward.
Here’s what happened: Drunk Elephant saw sales fall a jaw-dropping 65% in the first quarter of 2025. Ouch. This wasn’t just a blip, either. Shiseido as a whole reported its portfolio was down 8.5% in net sales. Much of that pain came from Drunk Elephant.
Part of this big dip has to do with gnarly US tariffs. Shiseido cited an initial blow of about ¥7 billion (roughly $48 million USD), later revising the figure to ¥3 billion (around $18.85 million USD). That’s a lot of lost cash to swallow in one go.
As if that weren’t enough, the brand also suffered a product recall in November 2024. Turns out, there were some ingredient concerns that forced them to pull items from shelves. Recalls are embarrassing and they really shake consumer trust.
The Reputation Downturn: The “Sephora Kids” Fallout
If you’ve spent time on TikTok, maybe you caught the “Sephora Kids” trend. This was all about pre-teens (mostly Gen Alpha) storming beauty stores, hyped by social media, and grabbing grownup skincare Drunk Elephant included.
You might think more kids equals more sales, but it actually turned into a branding crisis. Suddenly, adult fans, especially Millennials and Gen-Xers the people who made Drunk Elephant popular felt awkward about buying the same moisturizer as their 10-year-old cousin. The brand’s grown-up reputation took a real hit.
How bad was it? Search traffic for Drunk Elephant dropped almost 75% after peaking in January 2024. That’s millions of fewer eyes on the brand, and sales dropped for more than just one or two quarters. It’s kind of like being the band that suddenly goes viral on kids’ TikTok, then loses its longtime fans.
Shiseido’s Response: No Plans to Dump Drunk Elephant
Faced with all this, you might expect Shiseido to cut its losses. Instead, executives doubled down. In financial reports and updates throughout 2025, the company said there are “no plans for divestment.” So while profits are hurting, Drunk Elephant isn’t getting dumped on the curb.
Why stick with a struggling brand? Simple: Shiseido spent nearly a billion dollars on Drunk Elephant. It says it has “unwavering support” and that means investing more, not less, to try and fix things.
“Please Enjoy Responsibly” A 2026 Rebrand for Grown-Ups
Shiseido wasn’t just going to watch Drunk Elephant melt. Early 2026, the brand launched a full-scale rebrand called “Please Enjoy Responsibly.” At the center is a return to its original message products built for adult skin health, not short-lived social media trends.
Drunk Elephant’s founder always pushed “biocompatibility” fancy speak for formulas that work well with your skin and a rejection of certain common ingredients. You won’t find essential oils, alcohols that dry skin, silicones, fragrances, or sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) in these bottles. The so-called “Suspicious Six” are still banned.
Barbara Calcagni, who leads global brands at Shiseido (including Drunk Elephant, NARS, and Dr. Dennis Gross), put it like this: the priority is long-term skin health, not chasing viral moments. That’s the angle they’re pushing science-backed, ingredient-focused, and real.
Marketing Reset: Goodbye to Tween Vibes
One of the clearest changes is the brand’s Instagram. In early 2026, Drunk Elephant wiped the feed and started fresh with a new, totally grown-up look. The color palette got more muted. You’ll see clinical before-and-afters, references to real trials, and captions with a dry, ironic sense of humor.
Any trace of “bubblegum pop” or TikTok tween energy is gone. Drunk Elephant’s team wants people to recognize it as a serious skin care brand for adults not the face wash you buy for your niece.
They’re also using fewer influencers and TikTok creators who focus on youth trends. Instead, the plan is to collaborate with dermatologists, researchers, and adult beauty fans who value results over flash.
Innovation and Listening to Real Users
Product-wise, Drunk Elephant is promising new launches later in 2026. They’re going ahead much more carefully, running clinical tests, and sharing those results. This comes straight from Barbara Calcagni and the team, who say Drunk Elephant will stick to its “ingredient integrity” roots.
The brand is also getting back in touch with its core fans. They’re putting energy into private Facebook groups, Zoom Q&As, and real conversations with long-term buyers folks who remember the original brand promise.
Selective ambassadorships think respected dermatologists and trusted skin care bloggers, not just celebrities are meant to repair the link with grown-up consumers. Drunk Elephant wants to answer real questions (“Is this safe during pregnancy?” “Does it layer under makeup?”) instead of chasing likes from kids.
Will All of This Work? What Analysts Think
Shiseido clearly has a financial incentive to see Drunk Elephant bounce back. Investors and analysts have taken notice, since it paid $845 million for the company only five years ago.
The general mood? Cautiously optimistic. Some beauty industry experts think the “Please Enjoy Responsibly” campaign is hitting the right notes: solid science, clear messaging, distancing from the “Sephora Kids” drama. The brand’s philosophy is front and center on its website and marketing, and there are no signals that it might be shuttering.
But there’s also plenty of skepticism. Once you lose trust with your main audience, it can be tough to get it back. There’s also the fact that the skin care world is way more competitive than it was in 2019. Now, you have K-beauty, “masstige” brands (which basically means affordable luxury), and a ton of smaller indie labels.
Some observers wonder if Drunk Elephant’s changes are “too little, too late.” Still, people like the speed at which the creative overhaul has rolled out. The Instagram reset got attention, and the new adult-centric ads seem to be getting good feedback so far.
You can see signs of the turnaround effort for yourself. Go to the Drunk Elephant website or take a look at their latest social posts: the brand is pushing its philosophy front and center. No “going-out-of-business” vibes. Just a lot of talk about “biocompatible” formulas and consumer education.
If you ever want to look into broader business news or get more tips on brand strategy, there are plenty of resources like Epic Business Tips that break down cases like this in detail.
The Road Ahead: What To Watch For Next
If Drunk Elephant’s new strategy works, we’ll see it not just in headlines, but in sales numbers and you guessed it search trends bouncing back. Brands like this live and die by reputation and repeat customers. That’s why their renewed focus on long-term skin health (rather than viral fame) might be the right move, even if it takes a while.
Key things to watch? Success of the “Please Enjoy Responsibly” campaign, actual improvement in sales, and whether millennials come back. That core audience is still out there, but their trust won’t be won overnight.
Keep in mind that the beauty space changes fast. Competitors don’t slow down, and Gen Z shoppers especially are known for hopping on and off trends without much warning. A solid product lineup and credible marketing (not just good-looking packaging) are going to matter more than ever now.
Final Thoughts: Not Out, Just Under Construction
So, to answer the question: Is Drunk Elephant going out of business? No they’re still here, but not without scars. It’s a tough repair job, but Shiseido looks willing to spend and experiment to get Drunk Elephant back on top with adult buyers.
Rebrands like this take more than just fresh ads. The big test will be how well Drunk Elephant sticks to these new promises, listens to grown-up fans, and keeps rolling out products people actually want to use. If you’re wondering whether to keep the serum in your routine, it doesn’t look like it’ll disappear anytime soon. The real watch is what comes next, and whether the brand can win back its once-loyal crowd with a little less drama this time.
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