That new Spike Jonze perfume ad
Anonymous writes:
Hi Ben,
I was just wondering what you thought of this ad directed by Spike Jonze
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABz2m0olmPg
Sorry it’s completely unrelated to your post, I was just wondering what your thoughts were on perfume advertising, it seems a different world to the work most agencies do. They either seen completely random or metaphors. I don’t quite understand how an agency presents a perfume ad back to their client.
Thanks, Anonymous.
I think it’s delightful, but I get your point. When I showed it to my kids yesterday they asked what it was for and when I told them they thought it was bullshit. Then again, most perfume ads are ‘bullshit’: you can’t convey the scent so you just have to convey some sort of vibe that will make it seem cool or at least worth trying next time you’re in Selfridges or an airport. Clearly this spot, which is currently clogging up all my social media feeds, is doing a great job of that. Who knew or cared about Kenzo two days ago? Nobody. And now? All of us. Will I buy some? Nah, but this might be the opening move in a situation where I grow to like the brand enough to buy into it. Or maybe not. Either way, it’s a big step in the right direction.
Also, most ads these days are metaphors, so no problem there.
Wonder how it did in research.
gotta love how you went from “my kids said it’s bullshit” to “most perfume ads are bullshit” and justified bullshit advertising for being the step in the right direction.
I’d love a perfume ad with a concept but I think we’ve all accepted that they’re bullshit, so the better the bullshit the better the perfume ad.
I think…
It’s also a complete paraphrase of his own Weapon of Choice music vid.
Yep.
Completely agree with most of the article but I think “…Who knew or cared about Kenzo two days ago? Nobody.” might be a bit of a sweeping statement.
Kenzo have been doing interesting stuff in their design, print and moving image stuff for a while now. They’ve made films with Sean S. Baker, Carrie Brownstein and David Lynch and generally produce visually interesting stuff. Yeah, a lot of it’s a bit shallow, but then it’s fashion. When your product range reinvents itself twice a year it’s probably the only way to keep up.
Kenzo as a fashion brand is pretty well known (1.3 million instagram followers as an example). I appreciate the fact that it’s not quite as well known as the Cokes and Apples of this world, but it’s certainly not invisible.
P.S. After getting over how similar it was to Weapon of Choice, the next thing I thought of was the poor post production guys having to paint out the camera etc on the mirrored staircase. I think they’re the unsung heroes of this whole thing.