A little rant on the subject of celebrity perfumes in The Age includes this nugget of wisdom:
...Donald Trump - The Fragrance....has reportedly failed, maybe because it smelt of a cross between a dead racoon and money.
The Donald's faltering is a rare thing in the age of celebrity, where it seems any event, any product, any thing becomes more real when a celebrity, whatever their wattage, is in attendance.
And to prove that point, look at what Paris Hilton has done for Parlux Fragrances, Inc, her parent company:
"When we signed her, we were a $90 million company," said Parlux Chief Executive Officer Ilia Lekach. "Now we're going to be a $200 million or a $300 million company." (link to article no longer working, sorry!)
Want to attach a fragrance oil burner to your PC? Now you can.
AriZona Teas is the latest company to use fragrant packaging to sell consumer goods.
The New York Times has an article by Chandler Burr on the fragrance of skin creams. Also check out this article in the Times Online on perfumed laundry detergents.
I'd wager a guess that Trump's frag failed because, let's face it, no one think of ACTUAL beauty or elegance when it comes to him. We think of scary-hair that has more in common with sculpted topiaries than coiffures. We think of buildings with shiny gold plaques that bear his name despite the fact that he doesn't really own them. We think of guy who has the priveledge of using bankruptcy as a “Get Out of Jail Free” card, rather than the hardship that most people have to go through when they must privately declare bankruptcy. We think of a guy who is game for hipness, but isn't really hip at all. Who wants to bother with a fragrance that connotes all that, let alone even care about the smell at all? Gah, this is why I hate the celeb fragrance racket going on lately. It's neat that they have famous faces, but I don't want to smell like what some random famous face deems worthy. Bleh.
Well put Katiedid! I agree 100%.
It is interesting. All you say is true, but my guess about why it failed is that the celebrity fragrances tend to appeal to a certain age group in the late teens & early 20s, and that cohort has zero interest in Donald Trump. P Diddy, yes, Donald Trump, no.