“Advertising is the art of convincing people to spend money they don't have for something they don't need.”

Greetings! I apologise for my temporary absence and I was meaning to post this last Friday, but have had other things on my plate at the moment. *Sigh* Anyway, before Christmas I was going to do a review of the Perfume Adverts I had seen, but now I have simply chosen to present my top ten favourite Perfume Adverts I have ever seen - even a few that were made before I was born. Admittedly, this is certainly not helping me with my saying 'No' to persuasive shop assistants problem. Honestly, all a shop assistant has to do with a Perfume to get me to buy it (as long as it smells fine and has a lovely bottle shape) is to say 'You really need this.' or 'It's a Limited Edition Bottle.' Next thing you know, I'm telling myself 'Yes, I do need this.' and fishing out my purse to buy something I can ill afford.
Yet, at the same time, I'm on the School Debating Team. Why do I not simply apply my questioning, probing nature in Real Life Situations? Why? ... (Because I am helping keep the economy afloat)


1.   Lou Lou de Cacharel - 1988 - I love the simple beauty and elegance of this video, but it's real selling point for me was the moment when she looks up and answers the call, 'Lou lou?' with 'Oui C'est Moi.' Inexplicably perfect moment and, although it took me a while to choose which of the ten adverts I have picked to put at No.1, it had to be this. Here is the clip and, although it plays the advert twice and is in English (it is more beautiful in French) I chose it because of the Higher Quality.

2.   Egoiste de Chanel pour Homme - 1990 - This advert is purely brilliant. With Sergei Prokofiev's Dance of the Knights, filmed by Jean-Paul Goude, a building purely created for the advert (a copy of the Carlton Hotel in Cannes) and many beautiful women dressed in Chanel shouting, "Selfish ... Where are you? Show yourself miserable! Beware my wrath! I will be relentless. O rage! O despair! O my love betrayed? Have I lived so long for this infamy? Show yourself selfish! Selfish! Selfish! Selfish!" (I felt the need to translate for my English Readers) How could it be anything short of 'une merveille?'

3.   Chanel No.5 with Carole Bouquet (I believe the date is 1986, but the Internet is failing me) I feel almost guilty for not putting this higher, because I have quite literally watched this dozens of times and have never tired of it! It is probably personal preference, but I think it is the best of the three Chanel No.5 Adverts with Carole Bouquet, surpassing the fantastic 1994 Marilyn Monroe Metamorphis and the earlier one with Nina Simone's 'My baby just cares for me' in the background.  I find it absolutely beautiful and (once again) felt the need to include a translation of the dialogue for English Readers before... Ha ha ha! ... I found a clip from the film Gilda (1946) with Rita Hayworth that I can just add on underneath instead. Saves me time and adds a beautiful clip to the proceedings.

 Here is the Gilda (1946) clip I promised - Do you see the similarity?

4.  Rive Gauche de Yves Saint Laurent - 1980 - The advert for this one is one of my more recent discoveries. Although I had come across the perfume before, I had not thought of trying to find an advert for it until recently... and when I did, I was blown away. It is so French and Sophisticated, not to mention light-hearted. The way we heard the sound of her spraying the perfume as the man was speaking is wonderful; even if I had been feeling utterly miserable (probably realising I had spent too much. Again) it would have cheered me up.

5.   Chanel No.5 with Audrey Tautou - 2009 - Yes, I have posted a third Chanel advert, and had to restrain myself not to post another one. Namely, the fantastic concoction with Vanessa Paradis in a Bird Cage while a cat looks on hungrily and Coco Chanel stares out of the Window. *Sigh* Unfortunately, I must state that if I had posted that, this list would have lacked the variety I was trying to get (and semi-failed at getting) Anyway, here is the gorgeous advert you have probably all seen, in all it's two minute long glory.

6.   Paris de Yves Saint Laurent - 1998 - Another beautiful advert, though I should probably stop stating that, since they all are. What I loved about this one was a mixture of the music, the model's hair and gorgeous pink & black dress, the fact they are standing at the top of the eiffel tower, the elegantly gloved hand at the beginning and end, the helicopter.... in short, the advert as a whole. I find it deliciously charming and I adore the colours, especially when the model's eyes flick up to reveal how beautifully blue they are. Sincerely, only the second video I have ever watched that made me briefly wish I had blue eyes (the first was, of course, Isabelle Adjani's Pull Marine)

Anyway, here is the advert.

7.   Candy de Prada - 2011 - Mwahahaha! I shall be controversial. For some reason beyond myself, there are many people who dislike it. Now, although I might initially have been turned off by any perfume called something that sounds as sweet and as sugary as 'Candy', I was instantly converted when I saw the advert. To quote, "Prada Candy's advertising campaign for television stars Léa Seydoux, rising darling of French cinema, as an impulsive piano student who seduces her tutor with a provocative dance. The preeminent fashion image-maker Jean-Paul Goude directs the Prada Candy movie. Seydoux's hypnotic dance is inspired by the Apache dance, performed by street gangs of 1900s Paris. The dance is intense and fierce, expressing a primitive battle of passion between a man and a woman; a battle the woman often won."

Without having even seen it, I could have read that description and known it would have appealed to me. I love the opulence and Léa Seydoux looks so cute and elegant in her black dress with Pink Knickers. Who would have guessed all that could have come from a fragrance called 'Candy'?

8.   Midnight Poison de Dior with Eva Green - 2007 - This one is one of the adverts that has grown on me, rather than appealing to me straight from the beginning (although I never found it unappealing) and I must say, I like the advert a lot more than the perfume, which is very entêtant, and there is no better way to describe it than that. I distinctly remember a point when I was young and foolish... and spent half an hour on the ferry from England to France, with my sister, trying all of Dior's various Poisons. Absolute Recipe for Disaster in a crowded car that has a good few hours on the road still to go before we reach our destination.

Anyway, returning to the advert: I really do not think there could be a lot which is much better than Eva Green in a Midnight Blue Dress with Muse in the background and a clock ticking. I will also add that I am not generally a fan of the more 'sexy' adverts. What do you think? What do you think of using Muse for the music?

9.   Pour Elle et Lui de Jean Paul Gaultier, Le Baiser - 1997 - This is another one that is slightly out of my 'perfume zone' so to speak. I think that, like Lou Lou's 'Oui C'est Moi', the selling point for me in this instant, was the perfectly phrased 'Tu sens bon, tu sais?' followed by the look they give each other. Not only that but, although I am a semi-traditionalist in this regard, I do like the gender bending; the way the woman takes the lead role. It makes it all the more memorable. This advert is stylish, sexy and very Jean Paul Gaultier! How could I not love it? On a last note, I love the colouring and think the blue light is perfect, as well as the way it is beautifully shot and think the music in the background balances everything else perfectly. It adds a note of class.

10.   L'Air du Temps de Nina Ricci - 1995 - This should probably be a lot higher. It deserves to be a lot higher and is a true work of Art. However, everything was so close run and I can not forget that when I first saw this ad quite a few years ago, it really semi-bored me.

Now, I look at it as a sort of heavenly, sensual romance. I find it fascinating, with a strange, delicate and beautiful mix of what I would suppose is French and Indian Culture, even if it is a little 'creepy'.

I really can not explain it very well to be honest. Just watch, and I hope you will understand. Oh, and the woman forty seconds into the video is one of most beautiful things you will see, which also manages to be scary (another example of this is Johnny Depp in Edward Scissorhands)

So... now I have told you all the perfume adverts I have absolutely adored, I think there is space for one I have really not liked. It is quite popular so maybe I have misunderstood it. Anyway, here is the atrocity.

THE WORST PERFUME ADVERT (excluding adverts for celebrity fragances. They do not count)

Parisienne de Yves Saint Laurent featuring Kate Moss.

• What on Earth is she doing to that poor Flower??? I do not even wish to know.
• Kate Moss is not even remotely French, so why is she the face of a perfume called 'Parisienne'? They should have used a French Woman.
• Admittedly, I like the guitar riffs.
• It is an inelegant advert with no defining feature (apart from that it looks like Kate Moss is...)
• The Perfume is not actually that bad, but this Advert would prevent me from ever buying it.
• If you do actually like this perfume Advert, do not hesitate to comment, as long as you state your reasoning. Who knows? I could be convinced.
  
  

Anyway, thank you for reading - Do not hesitate to comment and, if you liked this post, then please Follow to see more. :)