Saturday, December 20, 2008

All Sexed Up and Ready to Sell

So, I was doing my normal Saturday routine of watching wedding shows on the Style network (who doesn't love Who's Wedding is it Anyway?, Martha Stewart's the Art of Cakes II, Most Outrageous Weddings, and Forbes 20 Most Expensive Celebrity Weddings?), so what do you get when you mix Style TV with the holiday season?

Perfume ads. Tons and tons of perfume ads.

First there's the J'adore Dior ad with Charlize Theron:



Then there's Lancome's Magnifique with Anne Hathaway (complete with über cheesey song:)



The SUPER sexy Euphoria by Calvin Klein ad:



And let's not forget dear Britney's two fragrances:





*side note: the Fantasy ad airing on TV does not feature her tour, or the Britney + Kevin in a heart on the tree. (Methinks this has something to do with the whole splitting up thing, maybe?)

But the newest Elizabeth Arden fragrance commercial with Catherine Zeta Jones really gave me déjà vu:



Why the hell is a floating red umbrella symbolic of "the power of a woman?" It gives me flashbacks of Traveler's Insurance:



The red umbrella in this spot actually has something to do with the brand (hello- Traveler's logo!) and I actually find the idea sort of charming. The Arden beauty ad, on the other hand, kind of made me gag.

Then again, it is a tough thing to advertise for perfume. People really care about the scent (SHOCKER!), and until Smell-O-Vision becomes a prevalent medium in our lives, it seems we will have to deal with the overtly sexual, lifestyle-based commercials. (I mean, let's be serious: why do women wear perfume, if not to get sexed up?)

Ooo! Another fragrance commercial just popped up! The ever-so-trashy Mariah Carey Precious collection:



Happy Sexed-up Holidays to all in Yaybialand!

2 comments:

alicia houselog said...

Update: a less-sexy perfume commercial has surfaced. Instead, it uses a lighter, fun-day-in-France type feel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oWGD5yYS9g

Libby Issendorf said...

Yeah, these are bad...maybe the perfume should focus more on the designer/celebrity that makes it, since that's a familiar aspect that can be expressed without scent? It's actually kind of interesting to think that they could be showing the essence of Britney or Clinique or whatever designer, but instead they make these sexed-up mysterious fantasy lands that all look the same. Hmm...

 
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