Because it’s the truth: authenticating Chanel through celebrity death and fan magazines

ABSTRACT

Marilyn Monroe has long been associated with Chanel No. 5 and yet it was always unclear when she first confirmed her preference for the brand. Chanel, in their commercial from 2012, attempted to answer this question with a documentary-style presentation featuring previously unseen material. In the commercial, photos, video, voice recordings and the written word are all used as evidence from the ultimate secret exposé of the 1950s and 60s – the fan magazine. Fittingly, print is particularly important to Monroe’s star history, as it was one of the main ways her star image was disseminated. More importantly, the fan magazine functioned as a method by which to explore rumours, as well as her private, authentic self. Gossip, despite its negative connotations, does imply a certain ‘realness’ due its association with secrets, and is now one of the few ways in which we can access Monroe’s life. Chanel, without a living star, must construct an endorsement that seems authentic, and therefore must use multiple layers of authenticity to allow for a ‘meaning-transfer’ that does not appear fake. Star history and archival magazines act as tangible, historical and indexical artefacts that are not often found in commodity advertising. Monroe, as this paper will show, becomes exemplary as a device which – using these sources – proves Chanel’s longevity.

KEYWORDS:

• Stardom
• authenticity
• brand
• advertising
• magazine

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Monroe’s answer permeates modern discourse. Another example is the song ‘Public Relations’ in the TV series Smash (created by Theresa Rebeck, 2012–2013).

2. I will use documentary-commercial instead of documercial. I have chosen to do so, as the Chanel commercial was made as a series of small documentaries, and not all of these were promoted on British television. The ‘Inside Chanel’ shorts are therefore conceived as a documentary, and yet, the mini-documentaries are still promoting their company to sell products for commercial profit.

3. Confidential is one example that will be returned to later in this article.

4. It should be noted that Confidential was first published in December 1952. The third issue featured Monroe and represented a turning point in the magazine’s narrative focus.

5. The magazines Inside Story and Hush Hush began in January 1955 and May 1955 respectively.

6. Before August 1953, a press run for Confidential was estimated at 150,000. According to Henry E. Scott (2010) the Monroe issue would reach 800,000 runs, ‘far surpassing tame movie industry favourites such as Photoplay’ (p. 6).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ann-Marie Fleming

Ann-Marie Fleming is assistant-lecturer Film Studies at the University of Kent, UK. In 2019, she completed her PhD on posthumous film stardom. Her research interests include, but are not limited to, posthumous stardom, Hollywood stardom, magazines and their treatment of celebrity, and celebrity life stories. In 2017, she published in Celebrity Studies on the posthumous representations of Elvis Presley.