The Drum Awards for Marketing - Extended Deadline

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By Jason Stone, Editor of David Reviews

October 15, 2012 | 2 min read

Luxury fragrance brand Chanel No 5 have unveiled a marketing master stroke in the run-up to Christmas by broadcasting a commercial with Brad Pitt waxing lyrically about the nature of life.

The fashion house has often sought Hollywood glamour for its commercials with previous campaigns being fronted by Audrey Tautou, Nicole Kidman and Vanessa Paradis but this is the first time that one of their perfumes for women has been advertised by a man.

Filmed in black and white by features director Joe Wright, the commercial has Pitt reciting a prose poem before naming the product and adding the word "inevitable".

Like other commercials featuring major Hollywood talent, this film makes it look as though Pitt's participation was inadvertent – it’s as if he just happened to be saying those things in front of camera and had no idea that the resulting piece of film might be used as an advertisement.

This is an approach that suits all parties. Pitt gets to remain aloof about advertising and the resulting coolness is the very essence of what Chanel is trying to project.

Using a male move star in this fashion provides a marketing strategy which acknowledges that this product isn't just bought by men for their wives and girlfriends - it's also bought by women for themselves. Though, in future, they can also tell themselves that they’re buying it for Brad too.

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