What happens if one day consumers would sue l'Oréal for exaggerated marketing, reformulated perfumes or if several other perfume houses would sue l'Oréal for stealing ideas through their mass market perfumes under many names? Until then, L'Oréal is the big boss in UE and sets the rules. Friday L'Oréal won a four-year battle "to protect the reputation of its luxury perfumes – brands such as Trésor and Miracle – against low-cost "smell-alike" imitations". I will not add the question of "who protects me as a consumer against Garnier and their new product" because that's cosmetics.
The Guardian has an entire article on this subject and the conclusions of the judge are very important for us, consumers.
"The judges are scathing at having their hands tied by European law and see this decision as going against freedom of speech and free trade, with the truth having been "muzzled" […]The truth in the market matters, says the court, alongside the rights of journalists and politicians to speak the truth. The truth is the truth, even if the brand owner finds it uncomfortable – this is about freedom to trade and competing honestly."
L'Oréal spends more money for celebrities (one after another because actually none is performing well in cosmetics or fragrances) and now in courts than in their perfumes. The latest example of this mass market giant that sells the dream of luxury is Trésor in Love and the last feminine from Armani. It is also the case of the new exclusive collection from Armani Privé that unfortunately has nothing to do with the first perfumes launched several years ago. An example that "fragrance doesn't really matter" at l'Oréal is the current promotional event organized for Armani. If you go to Sephora Champs Elysées, where there is a big Armani podium, you'll notice that 80% of the testers from the Armani Privé collection are missing when they should promote the entire line. There is only the name and the empty space on the table. Cuir améthyste, Pierre de Lune, Bois d'encens, etc were not there as if L'Oréal would discontinue them tomorrow. Armani Code for Woman has a big problem for me - I'm never sure when it is real and when it is fake and that's because the bottle and the packaging have a poor quality.
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Fragrance is the 8th Art - Octavian Coifan - Le Parfum est le 8ème Art
