Calvin Klein Launches Scents in Second Life
The nose knows nothing in virtual worlds, but that hasn’t stopped Calvin Klein from launching a virtual version of their new ck IN2U fragrances for men and women in Second Life, according to a press release. The virtual launch accompanies the real-world launch of the same scents today, March 21. Since avatars can’t smell, the virtual perfume bottles will enable SL users to spray each other with bubbles that “initiate dialogue,” as the release puts it — probably requesting the sprayee to engage in a Calvin Klein animation. There will also be “graffiti bottles” available from the Calvin Klein build, put together by Justin Bovington’s Rivers Run Red on their Avalon island in Second Life, where Calvin Klein is holding a L$1 million photography contest to accompany the launch. Finally, if you’re in the UK you’ll be able to click through to a Web site and order a free sample.
Why Second Life? As Lori Singer, Calvin Klein Fragrances’ VP of Global Marketing, puts it in the release, “ck IN2U speaks the language of a generation connected by technology — the aptly named technosexuals.” Unfortunately, she also goes on to note that Calvin Klein has trademarked that word — not an indication that the company is completely in step with the generation it’s trying to reach.
Singer does point out something very interesting, however: “They are the first generation to be defined more by their means of communication rather than fashion or music.” This is actually a great observation about the cohort I occasionally refer to as “the 3pointD generation.” The technological “revolution” is just that: it’s the strongest force affecting the culture of the developed world at the moment. Whether this also means punters wants their perfume in pixels remains to be seen. Smell you later.
Feeds
[…] Nadie lo hubiera pensado. Pero sobre todo, ¿quién se hubiera animado hacerlo?. Presentar un perfume en Second Life es una de las iniciativas de marketing más audaces que he visto en los mundos virtuales, porque el olfato es el sentido menos simulable. En Second Life todo es simulación, al punto que, a veces, deja de serlo. El tacto es simulado y las relaciones codificadas por el código fuente. Hasta las leyes de la física son estrictamente simuladas en la plataforma de Linden Lab. Pero el olfato… […]
I wonder how the RRR crew kept a straight face while pitching a perfume campaign in Second Life.
“No, really. Technosexuals *stiffle giggle* will enjoy flying around your giant bottles and dodging the schmutz falling from the sky. *runs from room snorting*”
I think this is cool, and finally one of these big corporations has made an item for the virtual world which they can actually hold in their hands and actually use as they would other virtual items, and get some fun interaction from it, i.e. bubbles, graffiti, etc. So much of the corporate free swag out there is just some blocky object that loads your inventory and does nothing, or next-to-nothing, or is a t-shirt. Like the Nissan dispenser that dispensed cars you could drive, this CK item seems like something that really was adapted well to the virtual world. Good for them for taking this on.
Prokofy: I agree that if you’re going to do a build around perfume then RRR did a good job. It’s just that selling perfume (even technosexual perfume!) in a virtual world seems more like a punch line to a private joke RRR is telling than an actual campaign.
I hate to say this, I agree with you Prok. I was charmed by this, it’s really good to see someone actually doing something inventive. Like eSheep, RRR seem to be really delivering great ideas.
All I need now is virtual lipstick and my v-hand bag is complete!
I’m curious about exactly what this does. Certainly I’m all for fun little toys; I must admit that the combination of the words “perfume” and “second life” brings to me immediate images of those ghastly chat spammer wotsits… “Mark Wallace exudes a scent of ripe oranges and stegosaur musk”, that sort of thing. If anyone can change that impression of SL perfume I wish them all success.
hahaha I need a virtual scent that tells people that, totally :) or Walker does, anyway.
I could teach you, but I must levy a fee.
Oh well, put this somewhere…
list gScents = [
“exudes a scent of ripe oranges and stegosaur musk”,
“is redolent of halogens and burnt rabbit feet”,
“cannot help but be mistaken for a methamphetamine laboratory”,
“smells like crumpets being toasted over an open furry”
];
float gMax = 0.0;
default
{
state_entry()
{
llSensorRepeat(”", NULL_KEY, AGENT, 20.0, PI, 30.0);
gMax = (float)llGetListLength(gScents);
}
sensor(integer total_number)
{
string name = llGetObjectName();
llSetObjectName(llKey2Name(llGetOwner()));
string scent = llList2String(gScents, llFloor(llFrand(gMax)));
llSay(0, “/me ” + scent);
}
}
oops, add
llSetObjectName(name);
after the llSay.
[…] With a fair degree of buzz in the blogosphere, including ESC’s own 3pointD Calvin Klein launched IN2U, a new fragrance for the “technosexual” - whatever a technosexual may be (I think I’m too old to be a technosexual perhaps). […]
Imagine if the real life users of second life could actually smell the ck IN2U fragrance when sprayed in second life. Well they could if the second life content was scent enabled and the user had a scent dome. See www.scenttv.tv
Do you believe being able to actually smell scents from the second life world from your computer would greatly enhance your experience?