Why are perfume adverts so weird?

[M0reGinPlease]

I mean really weird?

Just saw the new Calvin Klein one with Jake Gyllenhaal... I'm lost for words really. Bizarre.

The new Idole one is daft

all about selling you a 'feeling' innit. Yes, this fragrance WILL make you achingly cool and absolutely french looking. Go ahead you on the sofa, buy it,feel hip and go break some hearts

@BillywilliamV yes!! What is he doing?? The advert makes no sense whatsoever!!!

Hate them all, it’s such an outdated method of advertising perfume. Old fashioned cringey pretentious rubbish. Like a David Lynch film.

I refer you all to PerfumeAdsForSale on Twitter.

Oh god! DP rants about this alllll the time. They are bloody stupid though but I suppose the only other option is just to have a photo of the product on screen for 15 seconds or so??

It’s because they want to sell you a smell in a bottle that you don’t need, for a lot of money.
So it’s go weird or go home.

If I were making a perfume advert,
It would be two people standing on a busy train.
One would say "I like your perfume, it smells of roses (or whatever)"
The other person would say "thanks, it's * insert perfume name* and then the advert would end.

The only decent one is the Paco Rabanne 1 millions aftershave, the one with the guy clicking his fingers, I really like the music they have used and the model looks like you could cut glass on his cheekbones.

I came on to mention Lee Mack but MotherOfSoupDragons beat me to it

Erm, in the true spirit of “there’s somebody who’s done everything on Mumsnet,” I did actually learn about this in one of my university courses on advertising and propaganda. @SpeckledDot has hit it in the head that the issue is about how you advertise a smell and the fact is that you can’t.

So then what DO you advertise for? You can advertise to a certain demographic by choosing a celebrity that will most appeal to that demographic based on market research (common). You can show “triggers” that will get across the type of scent it is (crashing oceans for “strong” scents, fields of wildflowers for “soft” scents, diamonds and ball gowns for “sophisticated” scents). You can play these notes AND try to combine them with something memorable so people won’t forget the ad (the fact people are mentioning brand names are showing it works, even if some people want to break tellys in the process).

But yes, perfume is a £25 billion market globally so advertising is always going to be pervasive, and riddled with celebrities (since they have the money to pay them), even if it is all odd.

The only decent one is the Paco Rabanne 1 millions aftershave, the one with the guy clicking his fingers, I really like the music they have used and the model looks like you could cut glass on his cheekbones. and it smells delicious too, my DP wears it.

I always think Johnny Depp is an odd choice for a perfume ad as he looks like he needs a good wash.

Perfumes cost pennies to make so manufacturers have to come up with what they think are attractive adverts to reel in buyers