I Don't Normally Advocate Reanimating the Dead...

...but in this case, the result is almost epic. And stacking Charlize Theron in the same league as Marilyn Monroe, Grace Kelly and other icons of glamour, under the roof of the Château de Versailles, doesn't smart all that much either. It was a quality choice. Requisite PR byte:

Our wish was to make everyone take part in a timeless, mythical and contemporary adventure, embodying the values of Dior. To help us achieve this task between dream and reality, we have chosen to put our trust into the hands of filmmaker Jean-Jacques Annaud, who has risen to the challenge in a most remarkable way.

-- CEO Guillaume Pannaud, of TBWA\PARIS.

Pas mal, guys, pas mal. The campaign went live yesterday and I'm hoping to see more development around this theme, because it would be a shame to leap into the stars like this and then fall flat with a series of weak follow-ups. Or no follow-up, just an aggressive TV placement campaign. Which is what often tends to happen with even the best perfume ads.

Gucci Guilty: All the Elements of a Story ... Except that There Isn't One.

This is the problem with perfume advertising. Grab an awesome director (in this case Frank Miller), tint the frame to fit his style, toss a couple of docile actors into a series of fragmented, unrelated scenes that somehow involve both passionate sex and the promise of a tragic burnout love; and lace the whole thing together with a hipster band (Bat for Lashes).

And there's no real story, you know? No logic, no sequence. Nothing about this ever really makes sense.

Cases in point (some good, some bad, all bad in the sense that they remake the exact same vapid mousetrap):

• Dior's Marion Cotillard/Franz Ferdinand neo throwback rock band thing
• Dior's Jude Law meet-me-in-Paris pile of poo
• Jean Paul Gaultier's choose-your-own-gender one night stand scenario
• Chanel's Audrey Tautou/Jean-Pierre Jeunet train fantasy
• Keira Knightley as Chanel ... with a cover of "L-O-V-E" by Joss Stone!

Come on, guys. When dealing with perfume, what else comes to mind besides "seduction" and "sexy lingering essence of you"?

Gaultier Lovers Leave a Scent Long After They're Gone

This ad for Le Mâle, the men's fragrance by Jean Paul Gaultier, has been all over TV this week. It kinda bummed me out until the day I randomly opened the My Little Paris app on my iPhone and saw the variant for Classique (pour femme):



Delectable work that speaks to the respective sexes. See the makings-of here and here.

Previous campaigns reveal Jean Paul Gaultier favors other-side-of-the-coin ads for his dual (and dueling?) fragrances, distilling how vulnerability and predatory instinct manifest in both sexes. This series is called L'Appartement.

You can see what kind of thought went into them, as well as clips from previous series, in this set of videos featuring "maître parfumeur" Francis Kurkdjian:

Kurkdjian on Le Mâle (with English translations):



Kurkdjian on Classique:

Tasty Discoveries

Occitane Miel & Citron, which will make you both aromatically edible and sparkly around the neck. (But not too sparkly.)

Pink Martini, a classically-trained band whose ear candy is infused with nostalgic Americana, Latin and French influences. There's also some big-band, bossa nova and gothic action tossed in. (Listen to their rendition of Que Sera Sera. Chills guaranteed or your money back*.)

---

*Not really.