tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453792360015486892.post6616344673053438713..comments2024-03-28T21:11:46.849-07:00Comments on Perfume Project NW: A HERD OF ELEPHANTS IN THE ROOMDoc Ellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08376377441504529063noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453792360015486892.post-27236773957112866742012-08-06T11:46:15.902-07:002012-08-06T11:46:15.902-07:00I never cease to be astonished when people react s...I never cease to be astonished when people react strongly to what seem like perfectly benign comments and observations. <br /><br />I think that in evaluating perfume, the only real form of objectivity is complete subjectivity, i.e., going with one's own gut reactions and private perceptions, not trying to fit perception into a pre-existing scheme of "notes" and/or "trendiness quotient". <br /><br />Ambition is certainly an elephant that we all have to deal with, and it's a two-way street with bloggers reaching out to perfumers and perfumers reaching out to bloggers in a symbiotic relationship. I probably need to do more outreach than I do. Being busy and fundamentally lazy, I haven't made an effort to contact bloggers who are unfamiliar with my work. <br /><br />Now that I'm back home, I plan to write about some more elephants, one by one.Doc Ellyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08376377441504529063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453792360015486892.post-76639763931787209222012-07-30T15:00:09.804-07:002012-07-30T15:00:09.804-07:00Wowee...the wonders I have missed! First of all, E...Wowee...the wonders I have missed! First of all, Ellen - thank you for taking up the herd of multicolored elephants! :-) I was frankly astonished at the reactions I got, becuase all I was doing was simply thinking out loud and blithely forgetting there was a quite receptive audience, too! The problem as I see it is twofold - one, that people expect objectivity in the communication of a uniquely subjective experience, and two...that dreaded A-word. Ambition. I don't believe there is such a thing as an objective perfume review, and if there were, I'm not sure I'd read it. I'm more interested in perspectives, discoveries and information, but I know I'm strange. Ambition is another of those elephants, because as a blogger evolves - or begins to believe her own brand of blarney - the question of Why Am I Doing This will inevitably raise its head. Which means for some, as it did for me, that in a world where Six Degrees of Separation no longer applies, some bloggers will inevitably reach out to those companies - indie, artisan or mainstream niche - and say hello. <br />I've never felt obligated to write covert PR copy in exchange for a sample, and I don't think I do, but after a while it can become a case of 'caveat autor' - in other words, if I have it, I have to write about it. Some blogs are very obvious about their covert PR - some others, not at all, But the big thing for me has not so much been the thrill of notoriety as it has been the wonders I found when I wasn't looking for them - emphatically including the very blog I'm commenting on now! It seems so long ago - it wasn't really - but how far have we come, and what wonders have we sniffed? ;-)tarleisiohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03891545310811763453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453792360015486892.post-46118681964176200862012-07-30T10:06:13.857-07:002012-07-30T10:06:13.857-07:00Marla and Ellen,
I have fallen prey to these PR ca...Marla and Ellen,<br />I have fallen prey to these PR campaigns. Thank you for telling it like it is. GailAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453792360015486892.post-37485416813157602942012-07-30T08:33:57.227-07:002012-07-30T08:33:57.227-07:00Marla, I was planning to post something on the con...Marla, I was planning to post something on the conflict of interest elephant sometime soon. I'm not sure what the solution is, as bloggers become beholden to big-time perfume companies and perfumers become beholden to big-time bloggers. I'm glad there are at least some venues for independent, objective, consumer reviews. <br /><br />You just brought in yet another elephant, the covert PR campaign!Doc Ellyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08376377441504529063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453792360015486892.post-78288978710998405882012-07-30T08:28:06.451-07:002012-07-30T08:28:06.451-07:00Gail, I think all of the phenomena that you mentio...Gail, I think all of the phenomena that you mention are (reasonably) harmless entertainment as long as people have the ability to discriminate between blatant gimmick and art, or blatant marketing hype and real critique. However, I suspect that many people cannot make these distinctions, not even at the far ends of the spectrum, and that they make no effort to look beyond the most superficial babble that goes on in the media. <br /><br />A good example is a student in one of my freshman classes who mistook a YouTube satire for a real source of information and showed it in class as part of her presentation. No one in the class recognized it as satire, even though it was quite obvious.Doc Ellyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08376377441504529063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453792360015486892.post-64182858650055957152012-07-30T05:37:42.545-07:002012-07-30T05:37:42.545-07:00An elephant that concerns me very much in the perf...An elephant that concerns me very much in the perfume blogosphere is the decline of actual criticism. This comes from some bloggers becoming well-known enough to personally know famous perfumers and brand owners. They get invites to special occasions, access to unique interviews, "preview bottles", and so on. They develop relationships with these people, inevitably. I'm not talking about indies and small businesses here, but the big-timers in Paris and London. I know of several incidents where perfumers/owners planned PR campaigns with their favorite bloggers before the perfume or line in question was even created. Lots of hype, lemming-like-craziness ensued. And it wasn't called PR. The perfume or line gets praised to the skies. Other bloggers who eventually try the perfume or line are perhaps unimpressed, but they don't feel they can contradict the big bloggers. They'll lose any chance at "access" that they have, right? As long as bloggers are looking to become "big bloggers" and gain access, they will cease to be critical in the good sense. They become, in effect, PR staff.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12888328097434089820noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453792360015486892.post-86981565121080709142012-07-30T00:07:39.674-07:002012-07-30T00:07:39.674-07:00I have to admit that I have been easily influenced...I have to admit that I have been easily influenced by online perfume reviews, blogs, etc. I even fell for Chandler Burr's recent devious and egregious marketing scheme on Open Sky. I did not purchase the mystery perfume (thank goodness) but I actually thought he was up to something more than just marketing.<br /><br />While I am in this bad mood and on the subject of perfume blogs I have to mention a blog that played on Marshall McLuhan's "the medium is the message" with a simple minded variant "the media is the message" without one reference to McLuhan himself. I also encountered someone referring to John Cage's sophomoric prepared piano pieces as if they were high art and not many, many years past their pull dates. Why does this upset me and why should I care? As long as I'm not suckered into taking it seriously, or (god forbid) spending money, I should look at it for what it is, just another form of entertainment. GailAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com