Jezebel: smells like mean spirit

Casey Wilson "Reads" Internet Comments

Dodai — Wed, 13 May 2009 14:20:00 EDT

Have you guys been saying mean stuff about Saturday Night Live's Casey Wilson? Because, as seen in this video, she can take it… up to a point. Embed after jump. [Funny Or Die]

SNL's Casey Wilson Reads Internet Comments from Casey Wilson

Researcher Finds Watching Jerks On Film Makes You Act Like A Jerk

Dodai — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 14:30:00 EDT

Researchers have always said that watching violent movies can make you more aggressive, but according to USA Today, a new study out of the UK has found that watching movies with "relational aggression" — where characters are verbally abusive — can make audiences more mean. A professor tested this theory by asking 53 college-aged women to watch, among other things, a scene from Mean Girls. The professor, Sarah Coyne, says: "Everyone's concerned about violence in the media… But we're missing out on lots of violence out there. We need to look at these other types of aggression."

Agreed! But forget the movies: Between the talking heads on the news, squabblers on reality shows, magazines that mock women who dare to leave the house without makeup or hit the beach with cellulite and mean-spirited blogs where cum shots are drawn on teenage celebrities, is it any wonder we're becoming a nation of assholes?

For instance: What would prompt a person to write the following comment on Sadie's post about meeting her fiancé's parents: "Wow your body looks like a 90 year old lady's. Gross." ??? Why do people read Drunken Stepfather? Why do millions of women visit PerezHilton.com every day?

Do we blame movies? Do we blame our fast-paced, "throw-away" culture, in which being kind and gentle means you're sure to be trampled? Do we blame (DUM DUM DUM!) the Internet, where people's freedom to express themselves often turns into nasty one-up-manship?

One thing's for sure: Some people are already mean. But with the validation of movies, magazines and websites, they figure, why hide it?

Meanness Appears To Rub Off On Viewers [USA Today]

Sniff Tests

Dodai — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 13:40:00 EST

Here is how the IM convo went down when we found out that Playboy Inc. is developing a men's fragrance line: Anna: I wonder what Hugh Hefner smells like. I'd say cologne, moth balls, cigar smoke. Dodai: I'd say Geritol & Viagra. Anna: That too. [Reuters]

Would You Buy Madonna's Perfume?

Dodai — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 10:30:00 EDT

Celebrity fragrances made $353.6 million in sales last year, but one major star didn't get a slice of that pie: Madonna. She's just about to ink a $120 million deal with Live Nation, and they'll have the right to license the singer's name for all kinds of merchandising projects, including fragrance, reports WWD. Apparently, Madonna has shopped herself around the fragrance industry for more than a decade. But this could be the right time, and the right deal. And industry insiders say that If Madonna does associate herself with a scent, it could be huge. "A Madonna scent would make sense," said Art Spiro, president of Liz Claiborne Cosmetics (which just released the Usher fragrance). "She is an internationally known celebrity who has appeal to a wide cross-section of demographic and cultural markets. It could be an interesting opportunity for someone."

Betsy Olum, senior vice president of marketing at Sephora, says, "She is such an inspiration, and I would inevitably buy her fragrance — however, it would really need a revolutionary new angle to it. If anyone can do this, she can. Madonna is the master of reinvention. The fragrance could help the celebrity fragrance industry in that respect."

On the other hand, Madonna is not known for being easy to work with. Patrick Bousquet-Chavanne, a group president of the Estée Lauder Cos. Inc., warns that licensing deals "take a meeting of minds and she is probably more demanding than most." Also, do people care about Madonna the way they once did? "She has most of her career behind her," Bousquet-Chavanne notes, but "she has a universality to her and a timelessness."

Plus, the celebrity fragrance market may be oversaturated... and fatigued. And Madonna is not exactly red-hot at the moment. Neil Katz, CEO of Parlux Fragrances, which markets the Paris Hilton scent, says, "Years ago, she could sell fragrance. But I don't know if at this point in her career, she still has that strong a following. I don't know." Madonna's music has been around for 25 years and she is known in countries around the world — is having her own fragrance on the market even something she needs to do? And even if she had the best concept, amazing packaging, stunning, avant-garde ad campaigns and a truly seductive, wonderful scent, would it just seem like the once-innovator was late to the game?

Marketing Madonna: Industry Mulls Prospect Of Pop Star Fragrance [WWD]

Do Straight Men Really Wear Scents?

Dodai — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 12:00:04 EDT

Today's 'Thursday Styles' section of the New York Times tries to convince readers that heterosexual, 20-something guys are into fragrance. They say such men belong to "Generation Axe" — in other words, "20-something urban men who... do not think that wearing fragrance is somehow unmanly." The story begins at a New York fragrance boutique called Le Labo, where a scent called Rose 31 — a men's fragrance! — is the bestseller. So! The question is this: Are these 20-something urban men with a penchant for synthetic scents actually straight? Cause honestly, the straight men we know emanate a scent derived not from roses but from armpit sweat and beer. (Not that we have a problem with that!) Take our poll, after the jump.

Younger, And Faster To Pick Up The Scent [NYT]