TIME
June 29, 1981 12:00 AM EDT
The ultimate cologne
Human sweat will certainly attract mosquitoes, but will it also lure members of the opposite sex? That hardly seems to be a gripping question for a perfume company. But Jovan Inc. of Chicago (1980 sales: $120 million) currently is thinking about little else. In 1972 the company scored a hit with Musk Oil, a fragrance for which it claimed almost mystical powers of “animal arousal.” Now Jovan is spending up to $6 million on provocative TV ads to promote Andron, a fragrance that it contends is “capable of triggering an intense magnetic reaction” in men and women alike. The perfume’s magic love potion? Alpha androstenol, a synthetic compound that is chemically the same as a substance found in human perspiration.
Though whiffs of passing joggers hardly arouse uncontrollable passions in most people, Jovan officials insist that alpha androstenol actually is a pheromone, which is a biochemical that has the power of sexual excitement. At best, the evidence is skimpy. A study conducted at San Francisco State University and published last year showed that sweaty odors can change the menstrual cycles of women. But any closer link between such substances and human sexuality is still uncertain.
In fact, the real message of Andron is one that fragrance manufacturers know all too well: what sells is sex. Jovan is hoping that Andron can match Musk Oil’s $85 million in annual revenues. But convincing the public of the new potion’s amorous properties may not be easy. Andron smells like neither a locker room nor an aphrodisiac, but like what it really is—a rather ordinary cologne that costs $7 to $8 an ounce.
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