By Lori Perkins
In case you’ve actually been watching the Olympics and missed the release of the commercial for the new Burberry cologne Hero ($78 for the smallest size), you may be unaware that Adam Driver (that’s probably Kylo Ren to you, but Adam Sackler from Girls for me) has taken over the internet while cavorting on a beach with a horse.
But his shirtless run on the beach with the caramel-colored horse, and then the ridiculous compelling water dance in the ocean between man and beast a la Zoolander, is topped by Driver’s very brief appearance at the end of the ad as a centaur. Yes, you read that right. Adam Driver is a centaur--half man/half horse.
This is, by far, one of the most entertaining perfume ads in years (but you must compare it to the Kenzo Spike Jones three-minute ad set at Lincoln Center) and it has justifiably taken over the internet, but the question that comes up most often is whether or not this is a not-so-subtle reference to Driver’s “masculine” appeal. According to the bizarre press release, Burberry creative director Riccardo Tisci explained what he was going for, “I wanted Burberry Hero to encapsulate modern masculinity, to play on the essence of primal human and animal instincts, channeling the duality between strength and sensitivity.” You be the judge of whether or not this was achieved. Meanwhile, I’ll keep wondering if there was another point to this ad – wink, wink.
As a romance book editor, I am concerned that I might be overwhelmed with centaur shifter fiction in the next few months.
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