Calvin Klein is used to causing a ruckus in media - whether it was a 16 year old Brooke Shields proclaiming that nothing came between her and her Calvins, or a very young, nude Kate Moss giving birth to heroin chic. The latest in his misadventures in advertising relate to his newest fragrance Secret Obsession featuring Eva Mendes (read the original post we did here). The controversy lies around the ad campaign and commercial which is apparently too risqué because of a glimpse of a bit of Ms. Mendes’ nipple - gasp!! I’ve always thought the “nipple controversy” was always a bit of a silly one. Men have nipples - they are shirtless all the time. If we just looked at each other as people, rather than making women into sex objects, this maybe wouldn’t be a big deal and we’d just see it as another part of anatomy. It’s a bit sad because the commercial is actually very tasteful and not at all in poor taste or pornographic. Perhaps we should be more concerned with what “we” (ahem, the Christian right) read into things - I believe that tells us more about ourselves than anything else.
Here’s the commercial - view it - share it - show the world:
(sorry about the ad at the end - it was the only video I could find)
P.S. - This controversy has gotten leagues of people in an uproar about our nation’s politics (finally!). While I don’t agree we need a PG version of this ad, it’s really disappointing that it takes something like this to critique the government while men and women serving our country are dying daily. There - I said it.
I’ve always loved perfume. It’s always been one of those things that I’ve associated with “being a lady”, probably because I remember my mom always putting it on and I always thought that was a very glamorous thing to do. As soon as I was old enough, I started wearing perfume. I was still pretty young, so my mom started me out on Love’s Baby Soft. Then I had all 5 or 6 flavors of Love’s (yes, they had a rainbow, lemon, orange, blue, etc). Then, it was Exclamation! When I was in about 9th or 10th grade though, I had enough of the “young” fragrances and was ready for my first real adult perfume. What did I chose? Obsession. Yep, I wore it all through high school, and I was border-line “obsessed” with the smell. I loved the musky undertones, the deep amber color of the scent and the oval-shaped bottle. I’ve stopped wearing it since then but I will always have a special place in my heart for my first fragrance. Today, I discovered that Calvin Klein is releasing an update of the fragrance called Secret Obsession and it brought back lots of aroma-filled memories.
Secret Obsession is not trying to be Obsession, rather, it’s a unique scent: It “has top notes of exotic plum, mace and rose de damas; a heart of Egyptian jasmine, French orange flower and tuberose, and base notes of cashmere woods, burnt amber, Madagascan vanilla and Australian sandalwood.” When asked to describe the difference between the two Obsessions, Michele Scannavini, president of Coty Prestige, stated: “While Obsession epitomized the overt glamour and sexuality of the Eighties, Secret Obsession will become the meaning of what is sexy today — more personal, sophisticated and intoxicating.” Eva Mendes will be the face of Secret Obsession, as well as the Calvin Klein lingerie line for fall. Secret Obsession launches in mid-September, but you can expect to see the racy ads (did you expect anything less from the people that gave you a very young, nude “heroin chic” Kate Moss??) in June. I’m a signature-scent kind of girl but I think I may have to go astray and pick up this new grown and sexy version of Obsession. Can’t wait!
