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1980s Perfume Advertising

 

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Advertising in the 1980s

If there was a theme in 1980s fragrance advertising, it was that women and men were equals in the sexual pursuit rather than the woman being the sex object. Advertising portrayed career-minded women as "supermoms," and nothing showed this better than the commercial for Charles of the Ritz Enjoli perfume. It depicted a sexy but capable woman who could "bring home the bacon, fry it up in a pan and never let you forget you're a man."

Revlon's Charlie created a stir with a pat on the backside in 1987. Successful since its 1973 launch, Charlie's newest advertising showed the woman in the ad giving her male colleague a pat on his rear end. The New York Times actually refused to run the ads saying that they were sexist and in poor taste.

The influence of the AIDS epidemic influenced advertising during the 1980s.  There was a dampening of unabashed sexual interaction and a focus on obviously monogamous relationships. Coty Emeraude had an ad that read "I love only one man, I wear only one fragrance." English Leather changed from "All my men wear English Leather" to the singular man and a Paco Rabanne ad was changed to have the male model put on a wedding ring. Despite this dampening, the nudity in Calvin Klein fragrance ads set new boundaries. 

The biggest marketing advance of the 1980s was made in 1982 by Giorgio Beverly Hills. It was the first fragrance to be advertised with a scent sample in a magazine. They purchased an entire year of perfume advertising with the scent strips in Vogue. Their sales, after only five years on the market, rose to $100 million.

Also in the 1980s, marketers began to approach celebrities to lend their names to their own signature scents. One of the most successful was Parfums International and Elizabeth Taylor.

This 1981 commercial for Oleg Cassini fragrances sums up that 80’s lust for luxury with a few select images: polo, yachting, private planes, Rolls Royces and wine and then lets you know it’s by Jovan, so it “doesn’t have to cost you the world.”

Some of the slogans from 1980s fragrances:   

  • Calvin Klein Obsession - between love and madness lies Obsession
  • Max Factor Le Jardin - If you want romance to come on strong, you have to come on soft
  • Max Factor Epris - part of the art of being a woman is knowing when not to be too much of a lady
  • Christian Dior Poison - poison is my potion
  • Giorgio Beverly Hills - the best-selling fragrance in Beverly Hills
  • Estee Lauder Beautiful - this is your moment to be beautiful
  • Elizabeth Arden Red Door - make an entrance
  • Cacharel Anais Anais - share the secret
  • Coty Exclamation - make a statement without saying a word!
  • Love's Baby Soft - underneath it all, she's Baby Soft
  • Faberge Brut - make everyday his Brut day
  • Guy LaRoche Drakkar Noir - feel the power
  • Davidoff Cool Water - the power of cool
  • Paco Rabanne Pour Homme - what is remembered is up to you
  • Pierre Cardin Pour Monsieur - today is too important to wear anything else
  • Aramis by Aramis - all a man is
  • Jovan Oleg Cassini - and now Cassini's world is brought to you by Jovan, so it doesn't have to cost you the world

   

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Some of the famous faces from 1980s fragrance advertisements: 

  • Linda Evangelista (YSL Opium)
  • Kim Alexis (Houbigant Chantilly)
  • Sophia Loren (Coty Sophia)
  • Jaclyn Smith (Max Factor Epris)
  • Ted Danson (Aramis by Aramis)
  • Sharon Stone (Revlon Charlie)
  • Sean Young (Coty Nuance)
  • Jane Seymour (Max Factor Le Jardin)
  • Famke Janssen (Coty Exclamation)
  • Paulina Porizkova (Estee Lauder Beautiful)
  • Elizabeth Taylor (her own line of perfumes)
  • Kate Moss (Calvin Klein Obsession)
  • Morgan Freechild (Jovan Evening Edition Musk)
  • Joan Collins (Revlon Scoundrel)