Living and Loving in the Moment, Vive La France

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SrqSc-GHS0

My blog is in regards to an YSL commercial, shot in Paris featuring Kate Moss.

In our last read of the book it covered cultural capitol within adds, economic capitol, social capitol, symbolic capitol and the “other” aspect, a kind of filling of the void strategy. Paris is the backdrop and it's no wonder since the products designer is French and the name is Parisienne. Paris has an immediate clichéd association with romance, love, beauty, rich French culture, and the promise of great lovers.

As discussed in the Barthes reading, a sense of lack creates a sense of need and desire, mix that with a little envy and sexual fantasy and we have the makings of a very irresistible advert/product. With all of what the commercial incorporates from the above mentioned and along with the images to support a narrative evolving allure and intrigue, it sells. And without actually smelling the perfume one gets a sense of the fragrance through a sensuous and sensorial visual. Dare I say I could smell the roses, which come from nowhere when she stretches her arms above her in one of many gasping moments of ecstasy.

There's a hidden or not so hidden glimpse of voyeuristic perversion as well, i.e. Kate molesting herself in the back of a taxi cab driving along the rivers edge, late evening early-morn just before dawn. I imagine someone is driving this car and enjoying the ride. Don't get me wrong I think this commercial is shot well and very sexy— nothing wrong with that. There is an overall decadence portrayed here that gears towards the well off or fantasy. A little “Eyes Wide Shut”, and taxi’s in Paris aren’t cheap.

Here's the story. She just left her lover on some luxurious satin thousand count Egyptian cotton sheets after an unforgettable love-making session, but she's still on fire as she recalls him and touches herself lasciviously all the way till the end of the advert when the, yes, you guessed it, "Eiffel Tour" the iconic symbol of romance, beauty, and passion enters into a dreamy shallow focus shot. Kate herself is an icon so we have a double whammy. This narrative creates an image of the type of woman that would wear this perfume. She is fabulous, elegant yet sexy, sexual free and living in the moment enjoying all that life has to offer. And by the looks of her garb she’s not living below the poverty line. But those aren’t things you’ll have to concern yourself with if you’re delighting in this product.

Another thing to consider I guess is that this woman does not stay the night, sexual freedom and all or maybe she has an early morning photo shoot. But seriously, if they cuddled after their "hot sex" it wouldn't portray the same "essence" of what the perfume intends to represent. The whole mise-en-scene would shift the products image and promise of the narrative played out, which is "freedom."

The blushing soft rose bottle matches the flush of color to the cheeks after organism(s). Perhaps I’m reading into it too far and the producers just like the color because it’s feminine. On a side note, one could also look at this add as a celebration of women's sexuality.