Philosophy : It's Not Just For the Mind

I am happy to note that Leiter Reports, the influential philosophy / political blog is now also a "useful consumer" blog. Professor Bill Edmundson has a very funny  post on Philosophy beauty products there.

Philosophy has long been stigmatized as a dry matter of logic-chopping and wheezy speculation.  A branding makeover was long overdue.  Where better to start than on the surface?   ("Save the appearances," and all that.)   Ergo, philosophy now has its own line of skin-care products:

He should have added that Philosophy is also one of the more expensive lines of beauty products - not entirely in keeping with the "unkempt, unshaved, generally indifferent to appearance" image of the philosopher. I once used a face mask by Philosophy - it was offered as a bonus with some other purchase. It was good but not terribly superior to many other less expensive products. I wondered about the market research that was behind the brand name and its appeal to women who are the main targets of Philosophy skin care products. I bet they didn't have Kant, Hegel, Spinoza and other "dry" western philosophers in mind. The idea I am sure was to evoke Zen, Yoga, Taoism and other warm and moist feeling tropical thoughts.

After reading Professor Edmundson's post, I went and took a look at the names of individual beauty aids marketed by Philosophy. With some amusement (and amazement) I mulled over the soulful appeal of names such as:

• Hope, Hope and Prayer, When Hope is Not Enough
• Grace, Purity, Pure Grace, Amazing Grace
• Supernatural, Soul Owner, Jump Starter, Time on Your Hands, Eye Believe etc.

All the above are women's creams, lotions, perfumes and balms. The only men's cosmetic item I found (I didn't go through all 184 products on the list) was a shaving cream with the intriguingly minimalistic name, The Common Man. What? No hope, prayer or jump start for the man who wants to polish up his exterior?  Then Professor Edmundson pointed me to a truly creepy combination of names for men's Philosophy products - Common Man + Amen = Policeman !  Make what you will of this sinister sounding word play.

Comments

[Sujatha]

I think they mean a combination of two products is offered gratis with the Police Man Link here

Of course, it might sound very appealing to the average woman buying something for her significant other (connection between "A' men, "Amen" and 'Common man), along with the goofy sounding blurb that they have at the link that you provided.

Hmmmm. It sounds like somebody parleyed their philosophy/theology degree into a marketing concept/position.

[Ruchira Paul]

I don't see a third product called the "Police Man" with which you say the duo will be gratis. That strange linguistic leap appears only in the "goofy" logo about "my hero" etc. in the combo offer of the Common Man and Amen.

Also, did you notice that Common Man and Amen bought separately will cost you $47 but the combo will set you back by $50? Okay, so women can be seduced by "Philosophy" but we still know our arithmetic, even when we are buying for the "hero" of our fantasy.

[Sujatha]

Oops, my mistake- the Policeman set is a combo of the Amen and Common Man products, not free with it(that'll teach me to skim too quickly through the tiny print! :( )
Must be the fancy wrapping they put on the 'Policeman' set or something ( Imagine a box that cost $3/- !!)
Or you're paying extra for the bundled concept.

[eric wp]

The history of perfume goes back to Egypt, although it was prevalent in East Asia as well. Early perfumes were based on incense, not chemicals, so aromas were passed around through fumes. The Roman and Islamic cultures further refined the harvesting and manufacturing of perfumery processes to include other aromatic ingredients.

Thus, the ancient Islamic culture marked the history of modern perfumery with the introduction of spices and herbs. Fragrances and other exotic substances, such as Jasmine and Citruses, were adapted to be harvested in climates outside of their indigenous Asia.