What are your thoughts?  Do you think it cheapens the brand?  Brad certainly doesn’t look like a guy who’d be with a woman who wears the scent.  Chanel No. 5 has traditionally been associated with sophistication and Brad just doesn’t give that off.  In fact, rather than sexy, I think his voice in the video borders on creepy.

New Chanel No. 5 commercial featuring Brad Pitt

I picture a Chanel No. 5 wearer as a woman who is in her 30s or older, fairly well-off, has a closet full of clothes that will be considered “in” and prefers opera and the symphony over hip hop and rock, wine over beer – something that many people will agree with me on.  In other words, they really should have chosen someone a bit more on the sophisticated side (George Clooney, Hugh Jackman, Colin Firth and even Daniel Craig – pretty much anyone who has a gentleman vibe to him).  Sophistication, or rather, the lack of it, is something that I have been writing about for years.  While yes, casualization of society is as strong as ever, and I understand the people at Chanel probably want to move away from the “classic” perspective (i.e.  my view of No. 5), this is just too much and too far of a derivative from the brand’s traditional philosophy.  Change is good, but not when you replace it with something that is so different.  Imagine the man in the ad wasn’t Brad Pitt, but some unknown model with a similar look (long hair, facial hair, casual clothing).  Would the ad have received a green light?