Case of the Coveted Bottle – I Had to Have It!
Tuesday, September 4th, 2007
I am mesmerized by Sarah Jessica Parker’s new perfume “Covet” and I haven’t even taken a whiff of it yet. I have no idea what the combination of Sicilian lemon, lavender, chocolate and musk notes smell like, but I’ve already decided that I have to have it.
My love began with the commercial. Wearing a pretty white couture dress and stellar high heels, Parker walks up to a store front at The Place Vendome in Paris to admire a huge display bottle of her nouveau perfume “Covet.” She suddenly exclaims, “I have to have it,” and kicks in the glass of the display window with a force that would put a Tae Bo junkie to shame.
As she reaches through the broken glass to steal the coveted bottle, the Parisian police handcuff her and whisk her away to the police car. I completely connected with Parker’s ultimate need to have the perfume, but it wasn’t until I logged on to Covet’s Web site that I realized I was going to be sucked into a two-month interactive marketing campaign.
You too can play detective and solve the “Case of the Coveted Bottle” for a chance to win a $10,000 shopping trip for two to New York City (hotel and travel accommodations included). Every week through mid-October, the Web site is refreshed with a new blog from Parker’s Parisian publicist, Melisande Champney, who offers up information and clues that could possibly free Parker from the jail cell.
Little does the television commercial portray, but the bottle of Covet came up missing after Parker was arrested. Was this a set up? It’s up to you to follow the scent and bust through the clues using online French translators, Google, Flikr and other detective blog Web sites. Profiles on MySpace lend information on possible perpetrators and suspects. There are even bonus challenges where one can upload videos to enhance their chances to win.
I feel like a Charlie’s Angel trapped in an addicting mystery waiting for the latest news and clues to arrive each week. There is no doubt I will continue to scavenge through the end of the campaign and will soon smell like a bottle of Covet myself.
Besides, I have to have it.