Kenzo / My Mutant Brain
Luxury brand Kenzo creates a cinematic short film to promote its latest fragrance, sets new standard for beauty advertising
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RESULTS / The campaign gained more than 10 million views, reaching a viral status.
INSIGHTS / Ads for fragrances tend to follow a tested but tired narrative: a woman (or man) wearing the perfume in an extremely glamorous situation. The luxury lifestyle is backed up by classical music and the ad finishes with a voice whispering the product’s name softly. So much so that Saturday Night Live has a history of parodying them.
Kenzo’s first perfume ad is the antidote to these stereotypes and shows that representing women as fearless, fun and brave resonates with its audience (and their wallets). ‘When we think about perfume campaigns, we think about a pretty girl with a bottle,’ the film’s star – Qualley – said in a statement. ‘This clip is exactly the opposite. It’s very multifaceted and different; it takes the spectator by surprise.’