Dreaming of Teenage Suicides & Blue Valentines: The Advertising of Marc Jacobs Perfumes

I have been watching Marc Jacobs perfume commercials for the last five years or so (latest has been for Daisy Dream, a flanker of the original Daisy by Marc Jacobs, after Daisy Eau so Fresh) and I am constantly questioning myself about who they're aimed at really and who can identify with the nubile, hazy, virginal waifs he's depicting at an alarming rate; surely the teenagers are far too street smart to be that innocent, right? And they're young enough not to need to recapture their youth via image associations? Far from a feminist issue (others have tackled this more effectively already), I'm calling the bluff out on an aesthetic issue. The tone is set on a dreamlike sequence, grunge fashion style, with flou ~natch, strike that out~ bad lighting (and small lights creeping up from one focal point on the screen, so 70s) and certain cinematic techniques (gros plan, travelling etc.).

Basically they all look like they're shot by the same director (Are they? If anyone knows, please chime in).

Yes, really, they do.

They invariably remind me of the stylistic approach of two movies: The Virgin Suicides (with its nubile girls aplenty) and Blue Valentine (true life dystopia condensed in two hours or less). The trouble is those are sad movies, I mean really sad. Did I mention they're sad? (And they're absolutely great, go watch them! Like right now).

I can see nothing of the thought provocation that Eugenides's book (on which the movie was made) sparks or Cianfrance's darkish realism in the actual Marc Jacobs fragrances, you know?

Obviously lots of other fragrances have used visual and artistic references which do not correspond 100% to their actual scent (you can find several in our articles under Advertising) but at least they hinted at something a bit less uniform, less mass generated, less dull than the Jacobs brand is churning out. I don't know, maybe I'm grumpy today, what do you all think?