Macho Cologne
Introduced by Faberge in 1976. It was described as being "packaged with a startlingly new futuristic look." Which is to say that it was packaged as a giant phallus.
I like the ad promoting it as a Father's Day gift. I can just imagine a son or daughter giving this as a present to their dad.
The marketing of the cologne must have gained some notoriety. I found a brief discussion of it in an academic study of marketing — Marketing and Semiotics: New Directions in the Study of Signs for Sale (1987):
Update: Thanks to Brian for drawing our attention to Pierre Cardin Man's cologne, which also featured a suggestively shaped bottle.
And I just noticed that the Father's Day ad features both Macho cologne and Pierre Cardin Man's cologne. So if you gave your dad both, what message would you be sending him?
I like the ad promoting it as a Father's Day gift. I can just imagine a son or daughter giving this as a present to their dad.
Indianapolis Star - Oct 30, 1976
The Pocono Record - June 17, 1977
The marketing of the cologne must have gained some notoriety. I found a brief discussion of it in an academic study of marketing — Marketing and Semiotics: New Directions in the Study of Signs for Sale (1987):
The juxtaposition of the grossly physical with the structurally normative produces a profound effect: Norms and values become saturated with emotion while emotions are ennobled through contact with values. The monolithic (or rather, ithyphallic) print ad for Macho cologne run by Faberge several years ago, effectively condensing referents to male sexuality, aggression, wealth, and ethnic stereotyping in its rhetorical and iconographic symbolism, nicely illustrates this principle. Thus, symbols function as both storehouse and powerhouse, encoding information which is ultimately authoritative.
Update: Thanks to Brian for drawing our attention to Pierre Cardin Man's cologne, which also featured a suggestively shaped bottle.
And I just noticed that the Father's Day ad features both Macho cologne and Pierre Cardin Man's cologne. So if you gave your dad both, what message would you be sending him?
Comments
With that shape, it has to be a roll on. Or does it release a spray out of the long end of the container?
Posted by Fritz G on 04/26/17 at 07:37 AM
OK, children, today's word is "ithyphallic." Mary Jane, can you use it in a sentence?
Posted by Virtual on 04/26/17 at 09:30 AM
The bottle is a spray bottle. You can see the nozzle in the clear 'window' in the oddly shaped lid. Having a lid that's wider than the body of the bottle is probably something that makes the lid easier to get off, one might think.
Posted by Alassirana on 04/26/17 at 11:03 AM
After reading the marketing and Semiotics excerpt from 1987, it looks like someone got a thesaurus at Christmas of 1986!
Posted by Kyle Morgan on 04/26/17 at 11:12 AM
I remember those Pierre Cardin cologne bottles, which are also phallic in their own way.
Posted by Brian on 04/26/17 at 03:37 PM
Brian -- thanks for pointing that out. I found the Pierre Cardin ad and posted it above.
Posted by Alex on 04/26/17 at 10:40 PM
It has been Old Spice for me for years. No funny bottle shapes and no inhaling over-spray.
Posted by KDP on 04/27/17 at 09:48 AM
If you gave your dad both colognes, that would be very insulting (cue Macho Man from the Village People).
Macho. It's baaaad... and it smells bad. And that's good. Use it as a squirrel deterrent while you squirt Pierre Cardin's Man cologne from its phallic bottle onto your wet, sweaty body. This way, your flower garden will remain fresh and your tulip, turgescent.
Macho. It's baaaad... and it smells bad. And that's good. Use it as a squirrel deterrent while you squirt Pierre Cardin's Man cologne from its phallic bottle onto your wet, sweaty body. This way, your flower garden will remain fresh and your tulip, turgescent.
Posted by Yudith on 04/27/17 at 06:25 PM
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Category: Advertising | 1970s | Perfume and Cologne and Other Scents