Aramis: If infinity had a fragrance

Bob Dylan, the prophet of our age, once sang, "The times they are a-changin…’" He never said a truer line.

In the Sixties, people with flowers in their hair rode white bicycles, explored their minds and wore bangles, beads and tie-dyes. Neil Armstrong and company made the far-out trip to the moon. Timothy Leary made the great leap into inner space. The Beatles taught us that all we need is love and love is all we need. People spent their summers with love, James Bond and Mary Quant hemlines. Martin Luther dreamed. Jimi Hendrix flew. JFK bid adieu. And the Vietnam War painted the world black.

In the Seventies, people donned bellbottoms, platform shoes, disco shirts, and swayed like John Travolta. Richard Nixon got caught in the scandalous swamps of Watergate. Elvis Presley left the building. Muhammad Ali floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee. Led Zeppelin showed people the stairway to heaven. And George Lucas ushered them to a galaxy far, far away.

In the Eighties, Michael Jordan sky-walked, Michael Jackson moon-walked, and the Material Girl strutted her stuff in the material world. Prince Charles and Lady Diana had a fairy-tale wedding. Nuclear weapons threatened the world with a sci-fi ending. The Berlin Wall fell. And hair rose with the help of hair spray.

In the Nineties, the Douglas Coupland-coined "Generation X" became a by-word. There was the Hong Kong handover and the Allen Iverson crossover. The superstars in this decade were Kurt Cobain, Pokemon, the Internet and Dolly the sheep. Bush sent troops to the Middle East.

In the new millennium, Bush sent troops to the Middle East (although a different Bush was involved). Reality became the stuff of TV shows. The new superstars are American Idols, John and Jane Does, and William Hung. Michael Jackson and Martha Stewart landed on trial and in the tabloids.

Times, like what Dylan clucked, do change. Ads change with the times, too. Take the case of Aramis and its ever-changing advertising campaign.

The first Aramis ad that ran in the New Yorker (June 1964) was titled "For the Man Who Thought He Had Everything." It was catchy. Quite fitting for a brand that was the first fragrance and skincare line developed specifically for men, the very first exclusive men’s perfume to be sold in department stores.

Aramis is part of Estee Lauder Companies Inc. When Lauder set forth to make an array of appealing products that even the toughest guy couldn’t resist, little did she know that this simple train of thought would start a revolution in men’s grooming.

Aramis was named after an exotic Turkish root known to have "aphrodisiac properties," and also that dashing character Aramis in Alexandre Dumas’ The Three Musketeers. The fragrance is characterized as provocative and appealing with notes of citrus (bergamot), herbs and mid-notes of sandalwood and spices.

Aramis has remained successful – from the Sixties to the new millennium – with its product innovation, brand identity and famous advertising.

In the Seventies, Aramis developed over 40 grooming products, with the appropriate ad harping on that fact. In the Eighties, Cheers star Ted Danson became the face of Aramis, embodying everything that Aramis stood for – refinement, masculinity and style. (Danson would even show staying power by starring in a hit sitcom in 2004 titled Becker.)

In 2003, Aramis broke new ground by signing celebrity spokesperson – tennis superstar Andre Agassi. And in November 2004, the limited Aramis Presidential Edition gift set will be available on the market. Just the right scent for that refined, masculine and stylish male.

So, after chalking up 40 years and over 40 products, after expanding into 100 countries worldwide, the brand has shown that its "impact never fades."

Times are fleeting. Impact is forever.

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Aramis is available at Rustan’s Department Store.