Beyoncé in the "making of" for the Beyoncé Heat commercial (you can see a 30 second version here, and a 1 minute version here).
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I really can’t deal with watching the whole thing again, so maybe I’m wrong—but did I hear the words: “sophisticated” and “elegant” in there? Maybe I’m hopelessly old fashioned…and I’m not saying that Beyonce isn’t an engaging individual….but to me that looked like soft-porn shots….is that what elegance is in 2010? writhing around with your breasts almost out, wearing barely a dress and all sprayed down to look sweaty/oily ?? Fine, if you want to make a “hot” soft porn commercial —great job…..but that’s NOT sophistication and it’s sure as heck NOT elegance. I’m strangely offended by the whole thing.
It does not seem elegant or sophisticated to me either, but c’mon, neither is the fragrance — this is probably a perfect fit with her audience, although I’m guessing because as usual I don’t know much about who her audience is. But guessing it’s young, and by all accounts the young are not generally after sophistication & elegance. Which reminds me again of that wonderful Craig Ferguson rant about marketing to the young (NSFW):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFQkMAPVoIo
It’s great! I didn’t know him, now I want more!
LOL at that “it’s against the laws of the Universe”… HA!
Isn’t that hysterical? I think of it now whenever anybody complains about how all fragrances are geared towards the young.
I adore Craig Ferguson – and I love how the end product of all the stupidity is the Jonas Bros.
No, me either! Utterly hysterical! Must go see more of this guy: thoughtful AND funny.
Bonus: I love Scottish accents.
100% agreement
Sophistication and elegance is more like Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, or for someone still alive —Audrey Tatou
haha Excellent. He really does have it all figured out. Craig’s awesome.
Ah, Robin, that is perfect. Thanks for putting a smile on my face. Craig Ferguson is hysterical. And he is right!! It also makes me think of an Ab Fab episode when Patsy’s boss, Magda, says something like: if the models get any younger they’ll be chucking fetuses down the catwalk.
Loved AbFab! And Magda had some of the best lines…if you could understand them through that thick accent of hers!
I always have to rewind several times to figure out what she is saying! And when I first saw them on live TV, didn’t get a word of it.
Ahahahaha! That bit never gets old for me and I’ve watched it at least a dozen times. (I love how Craig’s Scottish accent get thicker the more he gets worked up.)
I’ve always thought Beyonce was a competent entertainer but a bit ridiculous with her separate “Sasha Fierce” diva-person. As you’ve stated below, Robin, this video really emphasizes the disconnect between the two. She actually seems like a really sweet girl from the video but that in itself makes the diva role look even more like playing dress-up to me.
And while I’m expressing my opinion I just want to ad that I am bored bored bored of this soft-porn advertising style – not just in the fragrance industry, but they seem especially guilty of overuse and lack of imagination. I guess growing up in the 80s with Madonna kinda burned out my sexual-provocation tolerance. 😛
I don’t know enough to say — never heard of the Sasha Fierce thing until whomever threatened to sue her if she named her fragrance ‘Fierce’.
& I find it boring & unimaginative too, esp. in the longer versions but I’m not the target.
Brilliant!
I agree with everything that you said.I found this hard to watch she came across as a tart.I would of thought someone like her would of tried to be elegant and sophisticated.Like Queen Latifah’s commercial she looked like a Queen with a beautiful gown.Beyonce is barely dressed not such a positive image for the kids.This just screams generic perfume to me.
Well, in all fairness it’s a perfume commercial. I don’t think it’s her problem or responsibility to be a positive role model for anybody — and frankly, I don’t think you’re going to find many positive images for kids in *any* perfume commercials.
Yes, its just a commercial but its a bad one.It wasn’t sexy in the least it was just stupid.It was not the least bit engaging and the worst part was her talking about the fragrance and how sexy it is.I mean wow she is so humble.I politely disagree I think she has a responsibilty to the youth that buy her cds and ask their parents to see her concerts.Why shouldn’t it be her responsibity? These kids look up to her and want to be like her and she is half naked in the commercial.When Sean Jean did we called him out on it why shouldn’t we call Beyonce out on this.Because she is nice .
There are ads that can be taseful and positive look at Queen that was a positive commercial with a strong woman and a lovely fragrance.Look at # 5 commercial with Audrey Tatou and all the Estee Lauder commercials gee its not that difficult to find some positive images in perfume commercials and they are best sellers because that actually don’t even need a commercial they sell on their own.
Wait, is Beyonce’s audience THAT young, that their parents are taking them to see her? I thought her audience must be older than that. It certainly isn’t a teeny-bopper scent.
I am 22, and I agree that our culture is lacking classic elegance. But I must defend my generation and say that we were not responsible for the 70s and 80s which paved the way for our tackiness 🙂
Oh, I don’t think you need apologize for anything. The young should like what they like, why not? My only complaint is that such a huge proportion of new mainstream fragrances are geared towards a fairly narrow set of tastes, but I hardly blame consumers for that.
The challenge is to film her without the celluloid melting and setting her extensions ablaze, ‘cuz she’s so HOT, baby! Did we mention that she’s hot? Yes, HOT… youch!
I like Beyonce well enough, but Peggy Lee did so much more with so much less…
Nobody has sung Fever like Peggy Lee!
Your right it just can’t be done again like the way she did it sorry Beyonce.
Hmm, these comments are making me smile – what’s our average age here? Some of these smack to me of “You kids get off my lawn!”
I adore Beyoncé – she’s not trying to be Audrey Hepburn, she is herself and I personally think she’s beyond hot. I didn’t hear the words “sophisticated” and “elegant” but if they were in there they were fleeting. The words I heard most often will probably be what the general perfume-buying audience associates with the spokesperson: “sexy”, “fun”, “energy”, and of course “hot”. And I could see why most of them will want to try this fragrance with her as the spokesperson. And I suspect they will range in ages but skew young, as with most popular-culture products. That doesn’t manage to offend my middle-aged self.
But then I’m a big fan of sex, fun, and even hotness. I even like to sweat!
I don’t think it should bother Beyoncé that she’s not Peggy Lee, either. She’s much more over the top: more the Mae West or Jayne Mansfield type. She’s Marilyn Monroe, not Grace Kelly. I have no problem with that. 🙂
Oh, absolutely agree — sexy, fun, hot, energetic — those are the point. And it doesn’t offend me in the least. (although I don’t think she’s Marilyn Monroe either)
Well, she may not last and be as iconic as Marilyn, but Marilyn was pretty over the top too (almost silly – remember the “persona” of Marilyn started as a joke on the Groucho Marx show).
I like the glimpses of Beyoncé that we get in the video – she seems to be having fun and not taking herself too seriously. Would that Marilyn had stayed as grounded.
Oh, I won’t even pretend I’d know who will “last” — I don’t even pay enough attention! I think what Marilyn Monroe had down pat was maintaining a certain kind of public persona, whereas what I see w/ both Beyonce & Mariah Carey (notice I only know about the perfume people, LOL) is that when they speak in public, the whole diva image is destroyed. These “making of” videos only further that: we see the very sexy Beyonce catting it up for the camera, and then we see a sort of silly, not very mature-sounding Beyonce talking about her fragrance — the two don’t mesh. I’ve never understood why these companies release “making of” videos at all — they “break the spell” of the commercial, and make it too painfully clear how much advertising is all a charade.
Hmm, that’s interesting. Maybe for the younger, media-savvy generation, the idea that the advertising would be “genuine” is silly. Marilyn Monroe’s persona WAS a persona, as we all know now. Maybe our divas are better off for admitting that their diva-ish selves are personas they put on for the camera and take off when they’re “themselves”?
In fact I’d be happier with that idea than the idea that Beyoncé is just a girlish sex-kitten all the time. When she says she’s “ready to be desired” and then follows it up with “well, I’m ready to be desired by one man, but being desired by others doesn’t bother me” (or words to that effect), she’s actually got almost a healthier division between the persona and her real personal life than sex kittens of the past managed to have, or convey.
Oh, I’m sure it’s healthier to know that advertising is fake, but what’s the point of it then if they so pointedly display that it’s all a charade? I just find it odd. If the whole idea behind celebrity perfume is that it’s aspirational (and the industry itself recognizes that that’s the point) then you need to maintain the illusion that there’s something to aspire too. All of these “making of” videos destroy that (not calling out this one in particular at all).
And certainly wouldn’t call up Marilyn Monroe as a role model for modern divas, LOL…
What hyperbole. At any moment I expect the large green foot of Godzilla to come crashing into the studio! Here comes the death breath – now that’s heat!
LOL!
I loved this video! I was hoping they would release a behind the scenes look. I love seeing things like this. Thanks, Robin!
🙂
I hate everything about this. From a visual point of you, I think the print ad is terrible. Beyonce does not look good in that colour red (another colour palette that compliments her skin tone better would have made a hell of a difference) and the whole thing looks exactly as someone else put it: porn with some clothes. The commercial is absurd – she actually looks like she does not know how to walk in heels and that she might topple over trying – and the behind-the-scenes thing just makes her look like a silly person who knows nothing about fragrance AND is way too caught up in her desirability.
Full disclosure: I’m not a Beyonce hater – I actually think her music is fun – but this just diminishes her in my eyes. If she really wants to possess the kind of gravitas she claims to aspire to (a fragrance she will be proud of 20 years later, etc. etc.) she might do better to present herself as an artist and persona who will actually be relevant in 20 years. I don’t think she comes close to achieving that here…far from it.
So yeah, to me this is a bomb. And even whilst the fragrance is No. 1 right now, if it the juice does not cut it, 6 months from now I predict we won’t be seeing any of these ads or commercials. Though, I suspect they’ll be quick to put out a flanker (and corresponding ads, commercials, etc.) that will detract from the utter failure of this media suite. If the juice is as compelling as she claims it is, then I would be we might see some new media to go along with it.
Still, I’m looking forward to sniffing this the next time I’m at the mall!
It’s rhyming day, I guess. I *meant* to write “from a visual point of view” hehe
Maybe the juice will surprise you, who knows? And yeah — we’ll be seeing a flanker very soon, I predict!
Aw, I thought Beyonce was cute in this. She does seem to have a sweet personality. I never thought the commercial was anything to write home about but this clip at least made me feel more endearment towards her (I wouldn’t call myself a fan, I’ll listen to some of her stuff on the radio). I went to Macys yesterday and I didn’t look that hard as I walked by the fragrance dept because I was afraid of getting attacked by a sales lady . . . but I was surprised not to see a huge display of this. I’m snowed in right now but I will try and smell this whenever I dig myself out.
Oh, I’d agree with that: I like her better after watching this than after watching the commercial. She does seem nice.
I just thought it looked like there were some much better shots taken than the goofy one they used. I hate that legs semi-parted in quasi-repose thing – it’s like she’s blowing a fart.
Ack!
Thank you for saying what I thought, Tama. 🙂
About the ad: nothing new here… though I think her breasts look weird and that is distracting, as they are so prominently displayed!
About the frag…It’ll probably hit here in about 6 months…so I’ll have to wait.
Regarding sexiness and all, I grew up in the 80’s (I’m 36) and yes, Madonna pretty much de-sensitized us from sexy imagery 😀
But still…it is a matter of personal taste… I am a gay man, but still I find Hale Berry, for example, 1000 times more “sexy” than Beyonce, and personality is always a plus: Queen Latifah can be sexy and alluring using her eyes only, and she does not go around baring her breasts.. though she has ample boobage 😉
Agree on the distracting boobs in the Heat ad – I kept thinking, “Oh, honey, tuck those things away, you’ll put somebody’s eye out.”
I wouldn’t call myself a fan exactly, but I do like Beyonce’s voice, and she does have a bold sense of style. I thought the ad, though, was just, well, trashy. I thought she was classier than that.
I assumed her boobs were not real, but I usually assume that. Maybe I’m quite wrong.
This ad is such a waste of talent, really: Beyonce is a lot hotter when she dances than when she just tries to look hot.
Robin, I thought it would take a long time to come up with anything that would top that fabulous Mandom ad, but you roared right back with Craig Ferguson. Thanks, and hats off!
Can you tell I spend too much time on YouTube, LOL?