Smells like cognitive dissonance

So there I was, crossing Regent St (and consequently huffing lungfuls of bus exhaust), when I saw the above ad.

It's been perplexing me all day.

First question: what exactly does London smell like? A bouquet of wet footpath, kebab, stale beer and body odour, with topnotes of cigarette smoke and diesel exhaust?

Second question: why would anyone want to smell like London? OK, I can imagine that it would be quite aspirational for a young lass in Telford, but why would a Londoner buy this stuff? (you'll note that the ad is running on the sides of London buses).

Comments

[Charles Frith]

Brilliant. You've a keen eye sir. Why didn't they just turn it upside down and put the nozzle next to the exhaust? :)

[Helen]

Ah but I think this is really trying to promise girls they can smell like Kate Moss.

If you saw it on Regent Street, I'm guessing it can be seen by the hoardes hanging outside girl-mecca. Kate's currently showing there of course.

[Jason Lonsdale]

Hi Helen,

I'm not sure that's much better -Kate is looking fairly ragged these days, and I'm sure Pete's fetid stench would be clinging to her every fibre...

Actually, I'm surprised Kate hasn't done a celebuscent of her own yet, a la Paris, Becks, J-Lo etc

[Helen]

Hi Jason

I've been thinking about this some more while going about dull household tasks.

Impulse sells image not fragrance. It's spray-on confidence - pre and young teen girls use it to imagine themselves as the (older) girl they would like to be. In this case the fashionable, independant and sassy Londonite - the girl who strides confidently through the grime and bustle of London, completely at home and turning heads wherever she goes.

(I can't help feeling this works as I'm still hoping to become that girl one day!)

[Jason Lonsdale]

You are absolutely right, of course (I'd have thought calling it "London Sass" or something would have been more appealing and less daft though). And I still wonder about the logic in trying to sell London to Londoners.

Also, last night I saw a "Paris" version (again, on a bus-side). It deploys the art nouveau typography of the Metro signs... to your point, the image of the classy, chic Parisienne (to my mind, Chanel No.5 and Gitanes) .

I wonder which will sell better? My bet: London in the provinces, Paris in London.

Anyone from Unilever out there care to comment?

[Amelia]

I had the same thought when I saw the New York one - having lived there for 6 years, the smell can be foul. A brilliant city that I adore, but to capture the scent of the city is to capture a mixture of exhaust fumes, garbage, wafts of Chinese take-out meals - expecially when the weather gets hot, it's horrible.
Then it got me thinking we buy expensive perfumes like DKNY, 212. So why does this one trouble me so much?

[Simon James]

Hi, just wanted to let you know I used this post as the basis to a piece for Londonist.

Thanks,

Simon

[FishNChimps]

I'm still trying to figure out what teen spirit smells like. Now this.