Folks voted for President Donald Trump, they wore his sneakers, his hats, and his watches, and shortly they’ll have the ability to make calls on his cellphone. But there’s seemingly at all times one other addition to the methods during which one can expertise all that’s Trump: which brings us to the most recent entry to the commander in chief’s ever-expanding perfume assortment.
Victory 47 for Males guarantees “wealthy, masculine notes with a refined end” with out truly itemizing any of the substances or its scent profile. Helpfully, early critiques from customers at perfume discussion board Parfumo describe it as “oriental-fruity” however rating it at simply 1.9 out of 10.
Value-wise, at $249 for 3.3 fluid ounces, it’s comparable with mainstays of blockbuster luxe traces, reminiscent of Tom Ford Noir Excessive ($240 for 3 ounces)—however the cachet between the 2 is probably going as far aside as Tom’s and Donald’s politics.
Fragrances would possibly seem to be an odd selection for a private model that prides itself on plain-talking and masculine tropes, however in accordance with NPD Group knowledge, movie star fragrances within the US amounted to $148.5 million between August 2022 and 2023—a 30 p.c enhance from the identical interval the yr earlier than. And whereas it’s not precisely memecoin cash, who wouldn’t need a piece of that pie when you’ll be able to depart the grunt work to a 3rd get together?
That upper-but-not-quite-niche $249 pricing additionally places Trump fragrances forward of the extra subtle movie star scent sphere. At one finish, names reminiscent of Jennifer Lopez and Antonio Banderas have lengthy cluttered pharmacy cabinets internationally with their lower-market-end-conquering gives (suppose $25 a pop). Stars reminiscent of Ariana Grande are subsequent on the ladder, capturing an enormous market with candy-sweet bottles that go for $45 to $68. Then we now have our Rhiannas and Billie Eilishes within the $140 ballpark—reasonably priced luxurious.
It’s not The Donald’s first foray into the world of movie star stink, after all—again within the misty, pre-presidential days of 2004 we had Donald Trump The Perfume (courtesy of midrange powerhouse Estée Lauder), then Success by Trump in 2012 adopted by Empire by Trump in 2015 (each by the father or mother firm of Parlux, which produces Eilish’s perfume line).
After all, this isn’t the primary time we’ve puzzled what energy truly smells like: JFK famously wore each Eight and Bob and Jockey Membership throughout his time in workplace, however he wasn’t licensing his identify and “likeness” to a 3rd get together churning out merchandise that he’d probably by no means buy himself.
Nonetheless, the Trump brand-diffusion plan has caught the attention of fellow authoritarians. Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has his personal line of fragrances courtesy of Brazilian magnificence model Agustin Fernandez—although retailing within the distinctly less-premium neighborhood of R$300 (US$50).
Like Melania Trump, Michelle Bolsonaro, former first woman of Brazil, additionally received in on the motion with the launch of their line in 2024. Maybe Donald will swap complimentary bottles with Jair, or perhaps there’s a uncommon flacon of the Putin-inspired Leaders Quantity One winging its method over from Russia? The thoughts—and nostrils—boggle.
