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Funny way to make ends meet

Posted by Robin on 7 September 2011 27 Comments

Charlize Theron, Marilyn Monroe, Grace Kelly and Marlene Dietrich for Christian Dior J'Adore. You can read more about the ad campaign at Hollywood Reporter.

Filed Under: perfume in the news
Tagged With: dior, video

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27 Comments

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  1. Ari says:
    7 September 2011 at 9:11 am

    1) Tacky, tacky, tacky.
    2) I doubt that many J’Adore wearers even know who Marlene Dietrich was.

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    • dee says:
      7 September 2011 at 9:45 am

      Haha, what?! That is so funny that you hated this Ari, I loved it!

      I dislike the reformulated juice, and I dislike Charlize Theron, but when I saw the names listed above, I loved the thrill of looking for, and catching a glimpse of, the icons 😉

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      • Ari says:
        7 September 2011 at 10:11 am

        It just doesn’t seem right to me to use Marilyn and Marlene’s images when they are unable to consent! We all know that if Marilyn had her choice, she would be pimping No. 5 anyway! But there are so few actresses with that kind of star power these days, I can’t really blame Dior for wanting to use them.
        Btw Dee, I just got a siamese myself and I appreciate your adorable icon more than ever!

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        • dee says:
          7 September 2011 at 10:41 am

          That’s true: I seriously doubt that ANY of those ladies would have delighted to be in a Dior ad campaign…

          Congratulations on your new kitty! Cho is a Balinese, which I guess is like a long-haired Siamese, and she’s a little less talkative than most Siamese, but she’s got that wonderfully weird & zazzy personality… I hope you love your new addition to the family! <3

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          • Ari says:
            7 September 2011 at 10:49 am

            I love her dearly, but I must admit that I am in way over my head. This is my first non-turtle pet, and I have no idea how to get her to stop biting me (never was able to get the turtle to stop biting me either, come to think of it). Any suggestions for a clueless cat owner would be GREATLY appreciated. (Apologize if off topic, Robin!)

          • dee says:
            7 September 2011 at 3:54 pm

            Is she still a kitten? When she gets mouthy, try disengaging her and waling away, so that she learns that when the biting starts, the fun times end! Withdrawing attention is an easy place to start, and if that doesn’t work, there’s always the water-atomizer 😉

  2. kaos.geo says:
    7 September 2011 at 9:59 am

    I like the ad, and the concept.. but ZombieMarilyn freaks me out.. maybe it is the “uncanny valley” effect? like The Polar Express.. those souless eyes stil haunt me… 😛

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    • wondermelmo says:
      7 September 2011 at 6:03 pm

      I’m glad I wasn’t the only one creeped out by that Marilyn. The movement of that face…eep. As far as I’m concerned, they may have well used Dr. Manhattan.

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  3. FragrantWitch says:
    7 September 2011 at 10:07 am

    I quite like this ad – no one is naked and writhing!

    Off topic but I just comlpleted a fragrance quiz on Molton Brown’s ‘Navigations Through Scent’ Facebook page – upon completion they send you a sample of the fragrance you were matched with. I am not affiliated at all, just wanted to share the free perfume!

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    • JolieFleurs says:
      7 September 2011 at 1:56 pm

      I agree, and no one looks ungodly emaciated, though I reckon they probably all are.

      And thanks for the tip about the giveaway!

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  4. Robin says:
    7 September 2011 at 10:36 am

    Interesting to hear the different viewpoints. I didn’t like it at all, and the implication that Charlize Theron is of the same stature as the others struck me as ludicrous.

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    • JolieFleurs says:
      7 September 2011 at 2:00 pm

      I have never heard of her…maybe that’s why I liked the ad; I just looked at it as a young woman indulging in a fantasy about being involved the in glamorous world of Hollywood and haute couture.

      Is she a model?

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      • nozknoz says:
        7 September 2011 at 9:47 pm

        She is a South African actress who won an Oscar for Best Actress in 2003.

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  5. Jessica says:
    7 September 2011 at 10:39 am

    I’m with Robin on this one. What does Charlize Theron embody, specifically, other than being the face of J’Adore? Icons need to stand for something powerful and abstract, or you should at least be able to describe them in some way other than “tall and beautiful and a good actress.”
    And, in general, I don’t enjoy seeing deceased celebrities being slotted into present-day ads just for their “icon” status. I remember feeling queasy over the whole “James Dean [et al.] wore khakis” GAP campaign, ages ago.

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    • Ari says:
      7 September 2011 at 10:47 am

      It actually seems like Ms. Theron isn’t doing much at all these days besides Dior ads. Her last big movie was Hancock, back in ’08. It’s probably because I’ve never seen “Monster”, her Oscar-winning movie, but I’ve always been a bit puzzled at her success.

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      • memoryofscent says:
        8 September 2011 at 8:34 am

        Re your kitty, what I do is apply a little pressure on her paw, not to heart her but to attract her attention. She stops.

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    • AnnieA says:
      7 September 2011 at 12:43 pm

      Seeing “deceased celebrities being slotted into present-day ads” is what I call “necro-marketing”, and it completely creeps me out. Marilyn Monroe is selling underwear — no thanks…

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      • JolieFleurs says:
        7 September 2011 at 2:01 pm

        Okay, I can see this point. Hadn’t thought of it that way.

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      • dee says:
        7 September 2011 at 3:57 pm

        “Necro-marketing”! Horrible! LOL!

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        • Musette says:
          7 September 2011 at 8:56 pm

          There’s a whole industry devoted to managing dead celebs – it’s HUGE! Creepy – but huge.

          xo

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  6. bjorn says:
    7 September 2011 at 11:40 am

    That was a poor Marilyn, more like a drag-version, I thought. Was it even a perfume ad? The Dior bag that Charlize carried got a nice shot, and they showed lots of couture, and somewhere in there was half a second shot of the perfume bottle. So more like a Dior products ad.

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    • Bela says:
      19 September 2011 at 10:33 am

      Marilyn is the real thing; so is Grace Kelly.

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  7. nozknoz says:
    7 September 2011 at 9:52 pm

    I found it more entertaining than most of these ads, which isn’t saying much, but I’d much prefer they spend the money on the juice!

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  8. Blithie says:
    7 September 2011 at 10:00 pm

    What parts of that ad aren’t CGI? It all looks generated to me. Why bother using Charlize Theron when the software is available to generate just about any image you can imagine? And I agree with AnnieA: necro-marketng creeps me out too, much worse than a made-up perfume selling avatar would.

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  9. memoryofscent says:
    8 September 2011 at 7:32 am

    This is bad taste at its best! Or worse… Whatever…
    The grossest of them all was Marlene Dietrich. Looks like they used real footage for Grace Kelly, digital effects for Marilyn Monroe and a bad drag queen for poor Marlene, just to keep the budget low.

    Question to the advertising company people: Who would want to wear a perfume coveted by the dead? Duhhh…?

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    • memoryofscent says:
      8 September 2011 at 7:33 am

      Has any body seen “Six Feet Under”? Do you remember the commercial parodies in the pilot? This is just what it reminded me.

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    • Bela says:
      19 September 2011 at 10:32 am

      I was just going to say that: Marlene Dietrich didn’t look right. It’s definitely not her (I’m very good with faces).

      Could it be because there is no footage of her in colour?

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