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Probably one of the most expected and viral campaigns of this fall: The new Chanel N.5 campaign with Brad Pitt. Chanel started in September a true teasing campaign that set fire to all people’s imagination. They took one of the most sexy man alive, Brad Pitt and associate the most feminine Fragrance ever: Chanel N.5. The result should be dazzling and finally…. disappointing.

Brad-Pitt-Chanel-5_fail

Ok, there was a great idea, to use a man into a women’s fragrance advertising. Daring, original and probably outstanding as all the feminine fragrance market follows the mainstreams. It is not the first time that Fragrance brands uses the opposite-sex into a fragrance ad. But it was more used for men’s fragrances. We all remember the Kate Moss ad for Obsession for men by Calvin Klein. This was probably one of the most subversive ads ever.. look to those eyes…

Calvin Klein Obsession for men

Here, we wonder why Chanel has chosen someone like Brad Pitt. What is the interest to show this man telling a story ? I am definitely part of the thousands of people disappointed with this lack of audacity by Chanel. All this money for nothing. We can even say more, they just followed this fall trends. Check it out this mood board with images from different brands on the Fall-Winter campaigns 2012:

Moodboard Fall Winter 2012

This fall, luxury brands like to have black and white scenes with men sitting or standing close to a wall. No escape? As we can see here above, Chanel writes its new ad into this Fall’s trends, so it is dated and what is dated gets outdated. Also we see a Brad Pitt old, almost dusty. Other brands had a more young and edgy imagery.

Then the part one of the reveal, shows a Brad Pitt alone, against a corner and saying different words without any sense really. His eyes are kind of empty, we do not see sparkles or desire. He looks more a kind of Lost in Translation… Out of 4 million views on Youtube, only 8,000 people liked it and more than 4,000 people disliked it… apparently I am not the only one.

If I am a woman, I do not want to see a man with that look in front of me. I would feel myself more a curse than a beloved one.

Then we got the reveal of part two. And here again it is very commercial, just a series of different images trying to link to a kind of trend. If you hide logos and Brand names, could be anyone. Could be Donna Karan, Estée Lauder, Dior or Avon. Could also be a Car brand advertising, or a coffee brand or anything…

Frankly, either I am getting old or Chanel did not succeed the bet of having a new outstanding advertising for Chanel 5. They were much more successful under Jacques Helleu era. There was real talent at that time. Here some of my preferred ones.

So here is a RED CARD for Chanel. In a Perfumery industry in which nobody wishes to take risks, Brands like Chanel should stand up for something rather than just stopping half way. Disappointing because we could imagine the potential of it.

The only positive and great thing, let’s try to end in a positive point, it is the INEVITABLE last word. It gives a sort of tension to the storyboard, even Brad Pitt’s eyes woke up.

Check the brand website to see more about it:
http://www.chanel.com

Inevitably, it will be unsuccessful. What do you think?
LA

 

Info sourced at the brand’s website and youtube channel. All content is copyrighted with no reproduction rights available.