In today’s seminar we were given three images for fragrance adverts and we had to analyse them. Here’s my thoughts on each of the images:
I think this image is the same as many other images used for fragrance. Two gorgeous models that fit society’s understanding of beauty, in love or after one another, with some sort of power battle. The theme of power is often used for luxury brands, where the consumers might feel as powerful when they wear the fragrance. The idea is that you’ll get the girl if you wear the fragrance, as many fragrance adverts portray, although in this advert I think it displays female strength and male dependence due to the composition of the image with the female supermodel, Lara Stone, being above male model, Brian Shimansky. The colour choice itself it quite regal, with rich blues and gold, representing luxury and expense. The godlike aspect relates to the name of the fragrance itself, with Eros being the God of Love, the son of Aphrodite. This in itself proves the sexual yearning, as well as elements of love and desire. I think the image is a good image, however, it is nothing out the ordinary for a fragrance advert, it’s following the trend.
I think this image is a bit boring and expected. The perfume is called Daisy, with the advert having two young girls in a daisy field holding the perfume, with a bottle being bigger than their heads. It’s traditionally feminine and plays on innocence, although with the way the models are styled, it is almost like a cult, with them worshiping the huge perfume. The aesthetic of the image perfectly matches with the name of the perfume and brand, which I personally just feel like it is a bit lacklustre.
This is my favourite of the three images because of how risqué it is. I believe promiscuous and overly sexualised images like this are done on purpose, because the fragrance house knows how much publicity it’s going to get. This advert was 8th place in the top 10 most complained about ads, but the fragrance is one of YSL’s best known scents, so has clearly still been successful. It may have been negative and frowned upon at the time, but it has definitely stuck in people’s minds. It gives a nod to the fashion house’s history of sexual provocation and female liberation. The model, Sophie Dahl, said she saw it as empowering also, but received a lot of backlash for staring in it. She was a completely different casting choice at the time, with pale skin and red hair providing the perfect contrast against the dark background. The perfume bottle isn’t shown in the image because it is shown through the model’s body, with how the perfume would make you feel sexy and liberated. I really enjoyed this activity and breaking down fragrance images, giving an insight on the themes often used: sex, innocence, and love. This provides a starting point for research for brief 4.
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