Brad Pitt’s First Chanel No. 5 TV Commercial To Debut On October 15

Can a man sell a women’s fragrance? Chanel seems to think that if any man can, it’s Brad Pitt.

We have to assume that they did major marketing research on Pitt vs. say, George Clooney, Michael Fassbender, Daniel Craig, or True Blood star Alexander Skarsgard.

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Anyway, it’s a done deal, and the fashion house will unveil Pitt’s Chanel No. 5 TV commercial and print ad this fall. The commercial will start airing on October 15 and the print ads will be in the big November beauty, style and fashion mags.

Why use a man to promote the iconic scent created by Coco Chanel in 91 years ago?

“We think very much that the perfume is a seduction between a man, a woman and the perfume. No.5 is our leading fragrance, and we are willing to make the investment to keep it on that level.” Andrea d’Avack, president, Chanel Fragrance & Beauty, told WWD.

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Industry reports have Pitt raking in around $7 million for the Chanel endorsement.

Chanel will also call in other celebrities — notably all female and not in the fresh face category —   including Ali MacGraw, Catherine Deneuve, Candice Bergen, Nicole Kidman, Audrey Tautou and Vanessa Paradis. What? No Angelina Jolie?

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In Pitt’s first commercial, shot by Golden Globe nominated director Joe Wright (Atonement, Hanna, Pride and Prejudice), the actor will seem to be speaking to a woman but then it’s revealed that he’s actually talking to the No. 5 perfume bottle. Hmmm. 

Wright has directed several Coco Mademoiselle frragrance commercials starring Keira Knightley, who also stars in his upcoming adaptation of Anna Karenina, opening in limited release on November 16.