Huge thanks to Changeling for the link to what must be the most spectacular perfume commercial ever made. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Charles Bronson for Mandom.
You can read more about this ad campaign at Cinema Retro, and a quick search at Youtube will turn up additional Bronson/Mandom commercials.
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95 Comments
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I loved this! Boy, he was really shaking that stuff on, wasn’t he? Don’t know anything at all about the scent. Does it sound weird if I say that Charles Bronson always reminds me of my father? He has an Asian look to him, though I don’t think he has any Asian blood.
Can you believe how he pours that stuff on??
hahahaha! my first thought was “overapply much?” which shows I spend way too much time around high school kids. Him whipping off his shirt made me laugh out loud. Thanks so much for posting this!
Made me think of Kevin and his ten or twelve spritzes a day.
(He’s going to kill me now, isn’t he?)
I was thinking of Kevin, too – he was talking about POURING it on – now I’m imagining a show-down between Kevin and Bronson!
He was Russian, so maybe he does….
I was thinking he has an Asian look about him too.
Oh. My. That was disturbing/hysterical/strange and yet I KNOW that I’ll be searching for more of these on YouTube.
I’m not sure I saw all of them, but this one was by far the best of what I saw.
I do not have a audio card or speakers on my work computer, but there is something irresistible about this commercial that transcends sound. Thank you.
It might even be better without sound.
One of the things I love is that the tag line is “all the world loves a lover”, but there’s not a woman to be seen. Not even in the nightclub. It really is mandom!
That is so funny! My exact thoughts…not a woman in sight! Back when that was made, no one probably even notice it.
Total class. Now this is what all celeb advertising ought to aspire to
So true!
I love the random shoot outs. Awesomeness.
Yep!
Did he apply the WHOLE bottle???? (no wonder he has a whole pile of the stuff!) I suspect you don’t see anyone else in his apartment because the “Mandom” is creating a sillage forcefield !!!
LOL! You’re reminding me of the Sex Panther cologne in Anchorman.
If you watch carefully, you can see it dripping down his back. Ha.
I know!!! I was thinking “he’s showering in this stuff!” then I realized maybe he was substituting the mandom for a shower….never a good idea!
Wow! You were really watching closely!
I thought the same thing! He must REEK! Hysterical. Loved this. Thanks for posting, Robin!
I can imagine frag exec thinking: “If only all of our customers could apply like that….. We’d be…. ever richer!”
No scent would ever be discontinued!
hey, I *do* apply fragrance like that! (LOL)
A quick search showed that Mandom still exists although now in the “Gatsby Shower Fresh” formula! The company apparently sells eyebrow waxing kits, oil blotting papers for men etc. Can’t picture Charles Bronson waxing, can you?
LOL, no. Much less waxing his eyebrows.
Go to any Japanese grocery store (usually the bigger ones), they usually have Mandom/Gatsby stuff. My sister and I used to howl with laughter at them whenever we went with my mother to get Japanese groceries. They always had those funny ‘engrish’ sayings on all the packaging that made no sense whatsoever. You could bust a gut perusing the beauty aisles of a Japanese store.
The scary part is that he is sexier than any Calvin Klein himbo!
Yes! There is something fabulously awesome about him in this. It might be cheese, but he’s all man. Not the sterile metrosexual perfecto-man of today (exception: that French neanderthal looking rugby player who was in the Caron Pour Un Homme ads – he was pretty awesome too).
Sebastien Chabal: that was my favorite perfume ad, too. I love how scandalized some people were by that campaign. I thought it was fabulous.
I agree! And he looks light-hearted, like he’s really enjoying his wonderful life but not taking it or himself too serius. This made me smile!
I can’t decide. I don’t really think I find him sexy at all. But agree he is awesome.
Mmmm, Charles Bronson is soooooo manly!
lol – I remember the first time I saw this one. I think I was watching one of the old Chanel ads and this came up as a “related” video.
That’s even funnier!
This was so great! A kingdom of one man, and yes, who the hell needs a woman? In a way I found this oddly refreshing (but my nostrils were writhing from the sheer visual of what he was doing with that stuff). And what is it about Charles? I suppose he is the real deal, after all, I mean why even bother taking a shower? The combination of pipe tobacco, gunsmoke, horsesweat and Mandom is the ultra magnet.
Exactly — who needs a woman! He has the piano player & the doorman, that’s all he needs.
And his drink!
And his pipe
BTW, the shots of him shooting a pistol while he’s dousing himself is way too funny. Like he’s gonna shoot ya down with that Mandom!!!
Exactly!
wow, that made my day, can’t stop giggling..thanks for the posting, Robin!
Glad you enjoyed it too!
My life is somehow richer now that I’ve seen this. I don’t think I’ll ever be the same. Isn’t it wonderful to have a glimpse into the world of the macho perfumista?
Yes!
I love it, V.! I feel the same way. My life is now richer. I have to go post this on my Facebook page to enrich the lives of others…
Another day made here — that was fabulous! The shaking, the shooting, the whinnying … whew! And the whole setup reminded me of the Bill Murray ad in “Lost in Translation.”
Yeah, good point.
You are right…I had deja vu watching it and you nailed it. It was like the Bill Murray commercial in” Lost in Translation”. Thanks for the memory nudge!
The sound of the horse whinny when he began to douse himself made me think of sweaty, stinky horses. And not in a good way.
Smells like a man
I loved every second of that, especially his exuberant twirl as he shed his shirt. Thanks for the linkage, Robin!
The intercutting of the shooting with him literally dousing himself in Mandom = “Dude, if you apply that much fragrance, somebody is *totally* gonna shoot you!” (though not the intended message of the Mandom campaign, I’m sure
)
I got it more as, “I’m wearing so much MANDOM I might as well be shooting you.” xD
True, that! It could be a showdown at high noon or something — guns of Mandom vs. guns of enraged bystanders subjected to Mandom-soaked Bronson. STAY TUNED
The shirt toss was extra-awesome. Yes.
Agreed!
Goodness Gracious Me!!!!
This has something very “Tom of Finland” about it. HA.
LOL — yes, it really does!
RWAR! Who needs this shirt!? >:D
My favorite part is when the bottle was spinning: “Man o man – it’s MANDOM!” And of course, the choir in the back “MAAAANDOOOM! MAAAANDOOOM!”
I couldn’t catch all of the Japanese but there were no references to women, only men. And the last thing that’s said (“Sore MANDOM!”) translates to “This is MANDOM!” Too great.
Thanks for the translation!
Also, what a great name–”Mandom”. The word itself makes me laugh! Thanks for posting this–it was great fun!
Thanks Robin!
Thank Changeling!
I had to post this on my FB page.
Good. Everyone on earth should see it.
He’s very committed to his fragrance.
I’m gonna have to post on FB too.
So funny Robin, thank-you
Ha! I didn’t see this before I wrote my post above. Great minds think alike!
I posted it on mine too!
You can’t help but start giggling or smiling….I walked out of the room for a sec when it started off w the piano flourish, which only heightened my surprise walking back in and seeing that weathered hunky face! Wonder what a hug would smell like? Makes you want to yell at him–put the bottle down, dude!
Thanks for this, Robin! And to Pigoletto: there’s a Japanese market in Center City, Philly–I immediately burst out laughing when I read what you wrote, so true.
LOL at “put the bottle down, dude”!
There just aren’t enough words to adequately convey all the awesomeness in this, LOL! I, too, am posting it to my FB.
PS – I believe that is Ike Cole, Nat’s brother, on the piano there in the beginning. He also was a fine musician and very popular in Japan but did not receive the same recognition as his brother in the U.S.
Wow. Didn’t know there was a brother.
Wow, I was thinking they did a great job in coming up with a piano player who looked a lot like Nat King Cole…and it’s his brother!
This has all been very informative as well as entertaining.
That was totally awesome! Thanks for the entertainment. All commercials should be that light hearted and cheesy.
Yes it should!
I wish I could place the little man who plays the doorman – he was in tons of commercials but was especially known for something in particular. Some kind of candy, maybe? Hmmm.
Love the shirt-toss! He looked like he was getting such a kick out of doing this goofy stuff.
The doorman was character actor Percy Helton.
Thank you!!
Oh my! TwoPeasinAPod! I just had to respond-I thought, without a doubt, that the guy playing piano was Nat when I first looked at him. And I didn’t realize myself he had a brother. Thanks for sharing-weird that he was popular in Japan…eerie how much they look alike.
You gotta love NST…it’s not only the best perfume blog, but there is something for everyone and lots of other information comes out of it.
It’s true, you never know what you’ll learn!
Robin, if I had the faintest idea how to insert the genuflecting emoticon, you would find it right here! THANK YOU!
The scary thing is that, as cheesy, misogynist, gratuitously violent, hazardous to the health, and ridiculous as this ad is, it is SO much more appealing than that Versace Versus ad posted yesterday. (Even scarier: imagine how much more the Versace ad must have cost.) I wouldn’t be terribly surprised if Mandom smelled better than the Versace, as well.
Oh, agree wholeheartedly…that Versus ad is dull as rocks.
Exactly! The Mandom ad generates this whole WTF?? response that no perfume ad I’ve seen can touch. OK, so maybe the Burger King ad had a little bit. But still. . . . Thank you, Thank you, Robin!
It’s got to be the best commercial of the year. All downhill from here.
Wow that was… something.
I have to say the best part were the cutaways to Charles shooting his guns while generously applying his cologne, cuz it’s a manly cologne that Mandom. But Mandom’s kind of a secretly brilliant name.
Somebody really ought to do a cologne in the US with that name.
I just watched this again to cheer myself up, and I realised that he’s applying all that perfume and then staying in, in his chair with his pipe, to enjoy only the company of himself and his mandom. It’s absolutely excellent.
LOL — exactly!
Best. Fragrance commercial. EVER.
Easily.
LOVE IT. Thanks Changeling & Robin for making my day! While I agree the awesomeness of the commercial you linked is unsurpassed– readers should check out Mandom commercial # 8 on youtube. The full frontal nudity of the manly men on the iron gate in the open as “Mandom opens the door to the world of Men’s Really Fine Grooming”, then the announcer solemnly intoning “Mandom. The choice of men with guts. HE-MEN! Men of action! It’s a Real Man’s Cosmetic for Real Men!” It’s too much. HAHAHAHA.
Great, off to go find #8!