BLACK PEARLS BACK AGAIN
By Adnews Staff
After one false start, U.S.-based Elizabeth Arden will make another try at selling its Elizabeth Taylor Black Pearls fragrance to North American women in April. A publicity program was started last fall but everything ground to an embarrassed halt because of a squabble with department stores over commissions. Peace has now been made with the stores and they have agreed to carry the new scent. In Canada, stores such as Eaton's, Sears and The Bay will be selling Black Pearls. The product will be supported by magazine advertising and retail flyers created in-house. The company is also relying on spillover TV advertising from the U.S.
In the U.S the marketing campaign will start with a TV splash; the much-married movie star will appear in four popular TV sitcoms on the CBS network, back-to-back in one night. CBS is publicizing the affair as Liz Night. All four are running a story line centered around the filming of a Black Pearls commercial and the disappearance of a strand of black pearls. The giggle saga begins with The Nanny, moves on to Can't Hurry Love, continues on Murphy Brown and concludes on High Society. CBS is paying for the privilege of airing Taylor and her pearls with a donation to a charitable foundation in her name. Arden isn't paying any product placement fees.