Those Old Chestnuts: Fragrance Advertising

Whether it’s Grandma’s china, a vintage piece of jewelry, or the family’s secret egg nog recipe, the Christmas season certainly brings the classics out of the closet. Classics by definition are enduring things that need little to no updating for the modern world. This even holds true in the advertising world. If an ad or commercial is well-made and timeless from the get go, why not trot it out year after year in all its classic glory?

While the Budweiser Clydesdale horses bring the usual bit of holiday schmaltz, I’d like to take a moment to pause and appreciate the fantastic old chestnuts of the fragrance industry. Christmas is the high point of the fragrance-buying year, with every type of retailer from Walgreens to Barney’s stocking up on perfume gifts for the harried shopper. According to an interview with Roja Dove from earlier this month, last year “Bluewater, one of the UK’s largest retail outlets, sold a bottle of perfume or aftershave every four seconds during the holiday season.” Indeed, according to Euromonitor (a market researcher) the global fragrance industry was valued at $24 billion in 2008. While most fragrances are given a two-year life span (mostly to increase their sales via limited release,) a true classic fragrance is one that endures five years or more.

So, it should only make sense that the major players of classic scents ramp up their advertising during the holiday months. In case you haven’t noticed, certain stalwarts of the fragrance world have been appearing on your TV lately, and usually with a gorgeous celebrity shot in dewey lighting: J’Adore Dior (with Charlize Theron), Lancome’s Trésor (with Penelope Cruz), and Chanel No. 5 (with Nicole Kidman in her “mini film” by Baz Lurman).

Of course, who could overlook the slightly fuzzy camerawork of Elizabeth Taylor’s White Diamonds ad? I love seeing Elizabeth Taylor on my TV, especially as she tosses a gorgeous set of earrings into the ante with an insouciant “these have always brought me luck…” It’s a genius bit of commercial work referencing romance, adventure, and the Dame’s own famous history with fabulous jewels.  

Please re-make the Stetson holiday ad with Tom Brady!

It seems that the closer we get to Christmas, the older the advertising chestnut. In fact, I believe it was as recent as a few years ago that I still caught the vintage Stetson Cologne holiday ad on late-night TV. You know, the one of the cowboy in the snow on horseback, backed by a girl with flowing hair all in white? They ride around on the horse and then…whoops! We’re really in Central Park? Yes, it’s something I wait for every year. If only they would re-make it with their current celebrity endorser, Tom Brady. Yes please!

A lot of these ads run during prime time or late-night…I suppose so people will realize they forgot to buy a certain gift and that they can run out to an all-night drug store and still find a few things? It’s a little sad, the thought of someone shopping for fragrance at Walgreens or Duane Reade, but they do stock up on the gift sets right at the front door so someone must be buying them.

Fragrance advertising is especially memorable for some reason. As the leading money making product for most fashion and luxury houses it’s no wonder that heavy ad dollars get spent in this sector. The ads are elegant, high fashion fantasies that tell stories of the good life – projecting everything you can have if you buy and wear the scent in question. It’s no wonder then that advertisers mix this messaging with the emotions and consumerism of the holidays. It’s even nicer to see that the old advertising still works for so many brands!

Comments

[Adelle (the Fashionista Lab)]

I love the Elizabeth Taylor White Diamonds commercial. I remember seeing it when I was younger, and my oldest brother worked at the perfume counter at Belks (a southern department store). He brought home cool stuff from time to time - samples and extras and things like that. One time he brought (bought?) my mother a White Diamonds gift set, and she arranged it on a tray on her dresser (maybe it came with the tray?), and it definitely looked like one of the most special things she's ever had. My family has changed a lot since then, and she lives in a different place but she still has that tray with some of the various White Diamonds bottles on it. Thanks for bringing back this memory!