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How can I risk losing everything I’ve worked so hard for

Posted by Robin on 3 November 2009 50 Comments

Yet another video promo for the La Prairie Life Threads fragrances (this one is for Platinum). You can see two more videos here and here, or find even more at the Life Threads channel at YouTube.

Filed Under: perfume in the news
Tagged With: la prairie, video

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50 Comments

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  1. Tara says:
    3 November 2009 at 1:03 pm

    ICK!!!!!!!!!!!! Nails on a chalk board for so many reasons…..Good thing I tried these before I saw the vidoes..What were they thinking especially with this one?

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    • Robin says:
      3 November 2009 at 1:31 pm

      I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen a perfume campaign that was such a turn off as this one. There are lots of videos (don’t know the exact # but more than 10 I think) and almost every single one annoyed me.

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  2. Nina says:
    3 November 2009 at 1:15 pm

    Why do all these videos make women out to be obsessed with romance, and pretty dumb to boot? Do they think we’re still in the 1970s? I can’t imagine any concept less likely to persuade me to buy.

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    • Robin says:
      3 November 2009 at 1:31 pm

      Exactly. This one is the worst of the lot, I think.

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    • Sunnyfunny says:
      3 November 2009 at 2:17 pm

      Oh, I know. You go, girl! Ditch your entire life and life’s work for that man! I’m sure he’s worth it! He wouldn’t ask you to do it if he didn’t think he was! Rotfl.

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      • Robin says:
        3 November 2009 at 2:24 pm

        Exactly! What I love is that apparently because she has worked hard, her life looks (otherwise) totally empty. Some moral.

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        • lsnuing says:
          4 November 2009 at 6:15 am

          That is a very good point! Very out of place in our empowered times.

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  3. Bee says:
    3 November 2009 at 1:33 pm

    these promos are soooo bad that I refuse to try the scents… sorry for ranting , I just have to say that one reason is that I have a general aversion to Arielle Domblasle, (in one of the other prairie life thread promos), but hey, her first and last vaguely good film performance was ages ago an an vintage E. Rohmer film)

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    • Robin says:
      3 November 2009 at 1:44 pm

      I hear the scents are pretty good…given how many “great commercial but crappy perfume” combos we see, I’d forgive the commercials!

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      • Bee says:
        3 November 2009 at 1:47 pm

        well, you’re both a nicer person and a more dedicated perfumista
        🙂
        grumpy greetings!

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        • Robin says:
          3 November 2009 at 2:25 pm

          LOL…no, I’m terribly grumpy myself, anyone would agree! But these do sound like they’re at least worth trying. I haven’t managed to do that yet myself.

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    • quinncreative says:
      3 November 2009 at 7:45 pm

      What if I try the scent and DON’T want to run away with him? What then? There’s a lot of weird stuff going on in that video, from the fact that the company is too poor to have a computer and she has to write everything by hand to the idea that if she runs away with him, she will lose everything else. Really? One or the other? Buy a computer lady, and use it to find someone who won’t make you choose between him and the job.

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      • Robin says:
        3 November 2009 at 8:17 pm

        LOL…yes! All that woman needs is a good laptop. Even a iPhone might do the trick.

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  4. Katich says:
    3 November 2009 at 1:43 pm

    Hahahaha oh man. Not sure whether to yawn, roll my eyes, or chortle, so I’ll go with all three.

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    • Robin says:
      3 November 2009 at 2:25 pm

      A triple play 😉

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  5. ScentScelf says:
    3 November 2009 at 1:51 pm

    Phew. I had a comment written, but was going to be first up, and didn’t want to be all negative. To wit: There are a LOT of potential college papers in this. Unbelievable. The best possible take on the message? Buy the perfume, so you don’t have to make the choice.

    Arrrrrrrrrrrrrgh. Fortunately, it’s a pleasure for me to put this right out of my mind…will still sniff the Threads.

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    • Robin says:
      3 November 2009 at 2:27 pm

      Apparently they’ve entirely lost the message of Enjoli, LOL…

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      • bergere says:
        3 November 2009 at 2:34 pm

        Or Charlie! Or Exclamation!

        Loved the blouse, but I wonder what business this woman’s in, if she can wear a braless little chiffon ruffle top to work?

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        • ScentScelf says:
          3 November 2009 at 4:40 pm

          Even “Calgon, take me away” is less nettlesome. 🙂 I know Enjoli and Charlie, but what was Exclamation!’s phrase?

          (off the fry up the bacon I brought home…)

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          • Robin says:
            3 November 2009 at 8:18 pm

            I don’t know Exclamation’s tag line either. Bergere, do fill us in!

          • bergere says:
            3 November 2009 at 9:11 pm

            Unfortunately, it didn’t have a real tagline, just a cute musical hook (and I don’t have musical software, so I can’t write it down–“Ex-cla-may-shun! Ba dee dee doop!”). I used to love the ad because the cute young woman in it looked confident, happy, well-dressed, and ready to make her mark on the world. No angst about working hard her whole life, just to be derailed by some slacker dude demanding she give everything up for him.

    • sharviss says:
      3 November 2009 at 3:18 pm

      Agreed. This almost makes me want to go back to college just so I can write a paper about how insulting and stupid and insultingly stupid this ad is!

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  6. RusticDove says:
    3 November 2009 at 2:02 pm

    Oy. That was excruciatingly lame.

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    • Robin says:
      3 November 2009 at 2:27 pm

      Oy is right.

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  7. Sunnyfunny says:
    3 November 2009 at 2:20 pm

    You mean this wasn’t an ad for the fabulous shirt she was wearing?

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    • Robin says:
      3 November 2009 at 2:30 pm

      HA!

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  8. AnnS says:
    3 November 2009 at 2:25 pm

    Clearly this woman doesn’t work for a company that is laying people off? Gak. And yes the blouse is the best part of the ad.

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    • Robin says:
      3 November 2009 at 2:30 pm

      Agree, I’ll take the blouse. Wouldn’t suit me though.

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      • Bee says:
        3 November 2009 at 2:37 pm

        oh well, we all seem to like the blouse! any fashionista-perfumista around who has a clue about the designer?

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      • AnnS says:
        3 November 2009 at 4:37 pm

        Wouldn’t work for me either… unless it was attached to a mumu.

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        • Robin says:
          3 November 2009 at 8:19 pm

          Now I’m daydreaming about that blouse attached to a mumu. Yes, I need that.

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  9. Dolly says:
    3 November 2009 at 5:41 pm

    This was awful. They need to take some direction from Jean-Baptiste Mondino. I wanted to “run” and get “away” from this.

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    • Robin says:
      3 November 2009 at 8:19 pm

      Interestingly enough, it looks like La Prairie spent some real money on this campaign…I mean, there are a LOT of videos involved.

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  10. 2scents says:
    3 November 2009 at 10:38 pm

    Ditto ditto ditto everything everybody said. Even for what it is, it is horribly done. Neither the life with “everything I’ve worked for” nor the lover and plane tickets were the least bit compelling. It seemed a choice between two bads. The blouse, however…

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  11. lsnuing says:
    3 November 2009 at 11:18 pm

    Ermmm … what does the video’s story have to do with the perfume? Looks more suited for a holiday destination campaign.

    I found her voice/tone a bit too forceful too. I thought it should have been a little unsure, a little soft. Made me think of a hard-nosed businesswoman ordering her employees around!

    I like her top though, very nice and suited for running away on a whim.

    Which brings me back to … how does it connect to a perfume called Life Threads Platinum?

    Too hard!

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    • Robin says:
      4 November 2009 at 9:05 am

      The perfumes are supposed to link to women’s stories. Weak link.

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  12. asuperlongusername says:
    4 November 2009 at 1:28 am

    At this point, they aren’t even funny anymore, just downright sad.

    And La Prarie continues to use voice actresses who completely ruin the mood. I know how horrible it sounds but if she’d just shut up, this would have been amazing.

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    • Robin says:
      4 November 2009 at 9:06 am

      The readings are terrible, it’s true.

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  13. annemarie says:
    4 November 2009 at 2:43 am

    There are perfumes that are empowering to women and were developed to be so. Miss Dior and Youth Dew come to mind, but there must be dozens of others. They proclaim: ‘I don’t need a man to show me how to be happy and fulfilled’, and they are from the 1950s. So how far have we come in the decades since then, with a market flooded with ultra feminine, fruity florals?

    And here’s a game: what perfume might one wear to accompany the moment when one tells the bloke in this video to go to hell?

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    • lsnuing says:
      4 November 2009 at 6:14 am

      annemarie – I like this game!

      From my own collection which isn’t very big, only 10 strong, it would have to be Givenchy Very Irresistible – on my skin the patchouli goes to skank and I would wear it like armor to fend off any further advances he might make!

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    • bergere says:
      4 November 2009 at 11:00 am

      Ooh! Good question! I’d wear Cristalle edt (I had my secretary type up the Dear John letter), or Fracas (“I am Woman, don’t make me slap you”)

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      • annemarie says:
        4 November 2009 at 5:01 pm

        I’ve never smelled Fracas but from what I have read, it sounds perfect.

        I’d be in Chanel 19, I think.

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  14. pigoletto says:
    4 November 2009 at 5:10 am

    Virginia Slims is probably looking at this thinking it’s a good time for a revival of their 70’s campaign – there’s more feminism in those old smokes ads than this one, for sure ;-D (do they even sell those cigs anymore? those things were miles long)

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    • Robin says:
      4 November 2009 at 10:38 am

      They still sell them…but they don’t advertise them.

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  15. Daisy says:
    4 November 2009 at 9:27 am

    what? are they 12? let’s run away….don’t tell dad. sheesh
    Watching was torture…I can’t even make myself watch the other two. Maybe she’s trotting around the city in the dark crossing streets because she’s hoping getting hit by a car would be better than being in these rotten videos! Maybe he just wants her to go on a fun weekend and she’s resisting….because she wants to stay home practicing her stern voice. Egad…if you’re going to muck up the already annoying ad…at least use a voice that doesn’t make me want to slap someone! okay, done now.

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    • Robin says:
      4 November 2009 at 10:38 am

      LOL at “don’t tell dad”…

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  16. newsitian09@yahoo.com says:
    4 November 2009 at 11:01 am

    “Life Threads. For the woman who can’t make up her mind.” Yeah that’s a great marketing angle. Market toward procrastinators. See how many buy it. Or not. Denise

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    • Robin says:
      4 November 2009 at 12:12 pm

      LOL…yeah, that’s one way to look at it.

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  17. zaheer says:
    6 November 2009 at 1:01 am

    what a random ad.

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    • Robin says:
      6 November 2009 at 8:51 am

      Yep.

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