The luxury fragrance industry has always represented the fine image of Fashion Designers, Jewelers, Cosmetics or even Automobile brands. They tend to be the access door to a dream world. That is why Advertising is so important. It is the aspirational factor that will make you buy that fragrance rather than that other one. Of course the scent is important as it needs to match your taste and a certain image of you. Women and Men featured in those ads are always impeccable: nice outfit, haircut, perfect makeup and pleasant environment. Unfortunately there is a lack of audacity nowadays, so ads tend to look the same and often propose a very neutral concept: the happy wife or mother, the girlfriend, the successful husband, the “safe” adventurer, etc… But did you know that it is not always the case? Here is our top 5 “badass / NSFW fragrances ads ever. They are true and have been published. By looking at some of them, they look very far away in time… The “good old days”?
Naughty Fragrance ad #5, Victoria Secret’s Very Sexy For Him, Gisele!
The End of the 90’s saw the burst of one of the biggest aspirational brands ever: Victoria’s Secret. The lingerie brand became such a powerful symbol of sexiness that any woman who would wear one of its underwear, would suddenly feel like being Gisele Bundchen. Well, in theory at least. When Victoria’s Secret started doing fragrances, they became very popular, especially in the USA. The surprise came when the lingerie brand launched fragrances for men, featuring……. Gisele Bundchen sexy as never. The following ad is for the second men’s fragrance called Very Sexy for Him 2 and was launched in 2003.
Naughty Fragrance ad #4, Carven’s Ma Griffe, in the flesh
After the Second World War, several couturiers decided to reinstate glamour and luxury, 2 things that were a little lost during that dark moment in human history. One of them was Carven. Carven is founded in 1945 and only one year later they launch the ultimate iconic fragrance for the brand: Ma Griffe. This fragrance was inspired by a summer dress of the brand that became a big hit. It was a cotton dress with white and green stripes. A couple of years later, Ma Griffe became the first fragrance to be sold in airplanes and the legend of Ma Griffe spread. Some decades later, the brand decided to revive the fragrance and launched astonishing ads that would make you blush. And here they are.
Naughty Fragrance ad #3, Calvin Klein Obsession, kiss kiss Gang Bang
Probably one of the first blockbusters in the late 80’s was Obsession by Calvin Klein. In an America of excess and over-rated sexuality, Calvin Klein was the voice of an entire generation. Obsession is a very hypnotic fragrance and the concept displayed openly sexuality. The first ad featured several people in a very “private appointment” and the following ads (especially the ones for men) featured Kate Moss after sex? See for yourself.
Naughty Fragrance ad #2, Tom Ford series, Chic-Porn
End of the 90’s, beginning of the years 2000, saw the ascension of Tom Ford. First at Gucci, then as himself, Tom Ford became the mighty hero of Porno-chic. Everything he would do would turn around this idea of aesthetic porn scenes displaying naked bodies in very naughty postures. A lot of oily skins, red lips and few clothes, these were common elements of Tom Ford signature. When he decided to join the Estee Lauder group and launch his own brand of fragrances and beauty, everybody was wondering what would he do. Well, I think all Tom Ford aficionados were pretty much happy with the result. For the others, it was pretty much a scandal. Here check for yourself.
Naughty Fragrance ad #1, Yves Saint Laurent Man – showing the beast
Final but definitely not least, the ultimate provocative brand of all: Yves Saint Laurent. The entire story of the fragrance brand was built on top of provocation, sexiness and politically incorrect attitude. It started with OPIUM in 1977. A fragrance with the name of a powerful drug. The ad was following the concept: “the women who would give themselves to Yves Saint Laurent“.
27 years later, YSL launches a fragrance for men called M7. It was the 7th masculine fragrance from the Brand and the world was about to experience a very provocative advertising campaign. Based in reference of a photography of Mr. Saint Laurent him completely naked, the M7 advertising features male model Samuel de Cubber and basically he was completely naked. Well, when I say completely, it means that we could see everything without any hidden part. Judge for yourself. Of course it was an ad displayed only in some chosen magazines but it got several editorial coverage in mainstream magazines like Vogue or Elle. The fragrance itself had a tremendous signature with a clear Safran note in the top. Very sexy indeed. Here is the ad. Another version cut by the half was used as massive advertising.
A fragrance is one of the most offered item during Christmas. It is a moment of self-indulgence or a moment to seduce. Millions of people around the world become something more than themselves when they wear a fragrance for a special occasion. You can express a lot of things with a fragrance: seduction, love, happiness, power, etc. From the ads we see above, Fragrance brands wish to maintain a certain idea of freedom. Well, some brands more than others.
Info sourced on osmoz.com, wikipedia and the brands respective websites. Featured image – Lithography by Otto Mueller. All content is copyrighted with no reproduction rights available.
