Celebrity fragrance endorsements are a dime a dozen. But Emily Blunt, the completely likable, uncontroversial British actress, is about to become the celebrity face of an unconventional perfume: Yves Saint Laurent's Opium.
The Telegraph reports that Blunt has been chosen as the star of the Opium's next campaign, which will "unveil a fiery, almost reckless woman with magnetic seduction, that nobody or nothing can resist," said Renaud de Lesquen, president of YSL & Designer Brands.
Almost reckless indeed. Although Blunt may not know it, the scent has had quite a rocky, reckless history. First debuted in 1977, Opium came under fire in 2000 for its ads featuring a very naked Sophie Dahl. As the BBC reported, the billboard invited 730 complaints to Britain's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), which subsequently banned it.
Then this past February, another Opium ad came under fire. A TV spot featuring a woman dancing ecstatically was deemed "irresponsible and unacceptable for broadcast" by the ASA because of dance moves that simulated drug use.
The ASA said in a statement, "We were concerned that in the context of the ad, Belle [played by French actress Melanie Thierry] running her finger down her inner arm could be seen to simulate the injection of opiates into the body."
We doubt Blunt will be stripping down or mimicking drug use in her perfume campaign, but we hope execs at YSL have enough sense to not make this go-round with Opium too fiery and reckless.
WATCH the aforementioned Belle D'Opium TV ad: