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Perfume Company Forces Andy Kaufman's Ghost To Sell Milk & Cookies Fragrance
By
Ben Yakas
Published Oct 7, 2015
Modified Oct 7, 2015
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Oct 7, 2015
Modified Oct 7, 2015
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Public relations is a tough game, as anyone who has ever tried to sell you on the pros of body shaming and cons of minimum wage can tell you. But even the most nefarious PR guru couldn't use their evil magic to resurrect the dead...could they? Maybe, according to Xyrena, the LA company which announced today that "Andy Kaufman to Reemerge on SNL's 40th Anniversary." Something smells fishy here, and it might just carry with it the white musk of deceit.
Putting aside the fact that Saturday Night Live actually celebrated its 40th anniversary all last season (it wasn't that long ago, remember?), the press release that came along with the email cleared up some of the confusion of the subject line...but only some (emphasis on that ellipses). "On October 11, exactly 40 years after his appearance on Saturday Night Live's premiere episode in 1975, legendary performance artist Andy Kaufman will reemerge...with his own celebrity fragrance."
Yes, nearly thirty years after dying and/or faking his death and/or going into hiding as to better influence events on Earth as a key member of the one-world authoritarian government known as the New World Order, Kaufman has given his seal-of-approval from beyond the grave to Xyrena to manufacture a fragrance on his behalf, one that captures the essence of Kaufman. Which, apparently, smells a lot like many people's childhood.
Andy Kaufman Milk & Cookies is a gourmand fragrance inspired by Kaufman's historic performance at Carnegie Hall in April 1979, after which he took the audience of 2,800 people out for milk and cookies with 24 buses he had waiting outside the venue. The audience was taken to the NY School for Printing at 439 W 49th St. Formulated by Wells, Milk & Cookies opens with top notes of sugar and sweet butter then develops into a heart of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies and a delicate note of creamy milk, followed by bottom notes of vanilla extract and white musk.
While the real Kaufman probably is living it up at the Mustang Ranch brothel in Las Vegas and/or slowly being absorbed into the Earth because he died of cancer and people generally don't bounce back from that, Kaufman's still-living brother seems to be onboard with eau de Andy.
"It's great to have Andy brought back, in any way, even if only in a bottle. Call me crazy but I still fantasize about the day when Andy will return, performing in front of live audiences again," said Andy's brother, Michael Kaufman, in the press release, leaving out the part where Andy returns only to find his brother sold out his image for a bottle of liquid which induces strange cravings.
Or maybe this was all one last hoax before Andy pulls back the curtain and reveals he's been Jim Carrey all along. Regardless of whether Kaufman is or isn't alive (FYI: he's dead), and whether this is or isn't a misuse of his image, clearly the PR blast worked, since I just wrote 500+ words about a fragrance I will never buy.
Tagged
andy Kaufman
fragrance
hoaxes
hot pitches
milk & cookie
perfume
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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