First, they put Shahrukh Khan in a bathtub . Now, they slather Kareena Kapoor with chocolate paint.Both, ostensibly, to celebrate '75 years of Lux soap'. And beyond the column-inches these activities may generate, neither is going to do anything for the brand in the long run.
The Lux strategy is especially confused and confusing. The brand is being stretched across the entire customer spectrum. So there's a soap cake being sold for 13 bucks and a White Spa body wash costing Rs 70.
A new 'chocolate seduction' soap.
A 'sandalwood + honey' variant.
A purple 'Aromatic Glow' variant.
The idea appears to be: ek hi teer se saare competitors ko maar do. But that usually doesn't work.
A single brand can't be a Lux AND a Palmolive Aromatherapy AND a Santoor AND in liquid form, an economical alternative to Bath & Body Works.
And this is especially applicable if the brand reworks only its image and not the formulation.
No seduction here
Yes, I actually bought the Lux chocolate soap. My verdict: Melody may be chocolatey, Lux still isn't.
The shape, look and feel is very nice but the soap SMELLS like any old regular Lux soap. So you never feel seduced by the 'chocolate' element.
Fragrance is in my opinion far more integral to a soap's appeal than how it looks. And for those who think that a chocolate smell in soap is unappealing - think again!
Try any foreign cocoa butter lotion. Or if you are in Bangalore's Garuda mall check out the shop on the first floor which sells 'hand made' bath products.
The delicious smell wafts into your nose while you're on the floor above! Everything in that shop is abslutely fascinating. The chocolate soap is chopped off for you from a cake-like brick. Looks good enough to eat...
The only sad bit is the company is from the UK and insists on charging UK prices. An 800 rupee soap was a bit much - even in the name of indulgence. You feel like the soap would have to be guarded and sparingly used. And what if it melts in the soapdish and turns into mush?
Ha, you can see how hard I had to work to convince myself it wasn't worth buying. Now that is what I call chocolate seduction.
Eat your heart out, Kareena!
