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“It’s not a journey, every journey ends but we go on. The world turns and we turn with it. Plans disappear, dreams take over. But wherever I go, there you are. My luck, my fate, my fortune. Chanel No.5. Inevitable.”
Having seen the new Chanel perfume advert, those words cannot be said without sounding like the lustful and alluring voice of Mr heart throb, Brad Pitt. I’m sure you’ve all seen this advert by now, and I expect each of you have all had different responses. Initially, it caught my attention straight away. As I watched Brad speak on screen in his casual, rugged shirt and long locks, I was immediately hooked, nodding along, entranced and gormless. It had me convinced straight away. After waking from the spell, I reacted as if Brad had spoken to me personally and if there was anything I was going to do in the next hour, it was going to be to drive to the nearest beauty store and purchase a bottle. Chanel have employed one of the most intriguing and original advertisement strategies I’d ever seen.
However, it was only the other day when I was going about my business and the advert came on again. This time the advert was consumed through my ears only, and unfortunately, this gave the advert a completely new meaning. Until now, perfume adverts have only ever featured female voice overs; they are an intimate inkling into a woman’s point of view. However, to drive sales from the male market and to “make guys more comfortable going to the fragrance counter (Brad) makes it both cool and gives confidence to the male gift-giver” says Andrew Sacks, founder of a luxury ad agency in New York. Be that as it may, my second encounter with the advert left me feeling slightly invaded. Perfume adverts symbolise a female space, speaking to women, for women, from a woman’s perspective, and to have a male voice over (albeit a handsome one) is an intrusion of this space, and something I’m undecided on.
The campaign “taps into a whole other consumer for whom Chanel No. 5 wouldn’t necessarily be front of mind,” said Jane Kellock, acting managing editor of product and design at researcher Stylus in London. The fragrance is “something that women know about and men don’t”. Agreed, the advert serves to get men out there buying us ladies a luxurious fragrance for Christmas and helps them to understand how important a signature scent is to us. But is it not a woman’s prerogative to manage the secrets of her beauty? I’ll let you decide.
By Marni Banks
