2. Can Tom Ford Make You Buy This Cologne?
Year it ran: 2007
Tom Ford is indeed known for his bold and often provocative approach to fashion advertising, which has made a significant impact on the industry and stirred considerable debate. The specific campaign you’re referring to is for Tom Ford’s men’s fragrance, which featured highly provocative imagery that pushed the boundaries of advertising norms. The ads were notable for their explicit use of nudity and sexual innuendo, with one particularly famous advertisement showing a woman’s body with a bottle of Tom Ford’s fragrance placed between her breasts, while other variations of the campaign placed the bottle in other suggestive positions.
These advertisements were designed to grab attention and break away from traditional perfume and cologne marketing, which typically focused on the scent or the essence of the brand rather than overt sexuality. Ford’s approach was to create a direct, unapologetic connection between sexuality and his fragrance, suggesting that wearing it could enhance the wearer’s sex appeal or desirability.
The use of body oil and the strategic placement of the cologne bottle did indeed cause outrage among various consumer groups and advertising watchdogs, who criticized the campaign for objectifying women and promoting a narrow and exploitative view of sexuality. Critics argued that the ads reduced the models to mere objects for the purpose of selling a product, which they saw as unethical and in poor taste.
Despite the controversy, Tom Ford has defended his advertising approach as a form of art and expression, arguing that fashion should provoke and challenge societal norms. The campaigns under his direction, whether for his own brand or during his tenure at Gucci and Saint Laurent, have often been celebrated for their artistic quality and boldness, even as they sparked debate over the limits of advertising and the representation of sexuality and gender in the fashion industry.
