Have you seen the new Brad Pitt video for Chanel? This commercial was shot by Joe Wright, the man responsible for the films, Atonement and Anna Karenina and it is daring in its simplicity and direction. If not, you can view it here
It is a big leap from the Chanel advertising we have come to know, to expect and to love… Brad Pitt is the first man to advertise the world’s most popular and best selling fragrance… Chanel No 5. (A bottle of this perfume sells every second somewhere in the world… ) Pitt, as the new face of Chanel, follows some super glamours … Marilyn Monroe, Jean Shrimpton, Catherine Deneuve, Lauren Hutton, Carole Bouquet, Nicole Kidman and Audrey Tatou.
“To keep a legend fresh, you always have to change its point of view,” Andrea d’Avack, president of Chanel’s fragrance and beauty division told Women’s Wear Daily. “It is the first time we’ve had a man speaking about a women’s fragrance. We think very much that the perfume is a seduction between a man, a woman and the perfume. No.5 is our leading fragrance, and we are willing to make the investment to keep it on that level.”
Is this brilliance or is it too much of a deviation for Chanel? I am always happy to gaze at Mr Pitt… but somehow I don’t think of him… and Chanel, as a pairing… What do you think? Is this a clever move from Chanel or not?
Will this campaign be the start of a new direction for fragrance houses? xv
