Pizza Hut Eau de Pizza Hut




Just how much do Pizza Hut's devotees love the smell of a freshly-opened box of pizza? Enough for Pizza Hut Canada to commission a fragrance so disconcertingly weird that it crosses the bridge from kitschy merch to conceptual art. And I didn't even know there was a bridge at that location!

Eau de Pizza Hut is billed as containing top notes of freshly baked, hand-tossed dough. Not exactly Chanel No. 5, but since only 110 bottles were made available to select pizza fanatics, it has the edge on Chanel in terms of exclusivity.

Eau de Pizza Hut: more exclusive than Chanel No. 5.


And exclusivity is a big deal when it comes to perfume, especially now that its luxury factor has been cheapened by non-stop celebrity fragrance launches. Releasing a perfume has become a rite of passage for pop stars extending their sell-by date, movie stars cashing in on their mystique, and reality stars classing up their trashy personas.

But it's not just the Lady Gagas and Justin Biebers of the world who are fumigating the faithful with their signature scents. Hipster stars like arthouse movie queen Tilda Swinton and indie folk singer Will Oldham have released bespoke perfumes. 60s bohemian beauty Jane Birkin's fragrance, L'air de Rien, is inspired by l'air de Jane's brother's hair and her father's stale pipe, along with the odor of dusty books. It's musky, personal and insinuating.

Further still from the mainstream are the art projects disguised as commercial perfumes. Australian design trio Greatest Hits devised “Stink Different”: an Apple Mac fragrance redolent of “the smell of the plastic wrap covering the box, printed ink on the cardboard, the smell of paper and plastic components within the box and of course the aluminum laptop.”

Moving into the “social discord” genre, American conceptual artist Lisa Kirk has created “Revolution”. Revolution contains the aromas of smoke, gasoline, tear gas, burnt rubber, and decaying flesh: an olfactory critique on luxury branding and political combustion. Earlier this year, professionally-kookoo fashion house Comme des Garçons launched “Eau de Parfum”, a fittingly sterile name for a scent which pongs defiantly of glue and sticky tape.

And provocative French fragrance company Etat Libre d'Orange puts the stink in “distinctive” with its notorious release Sécrétions Magnifiques. Sécrétions Magnifiques trumpets its blend of sweat, saliva, semen, blood and breast milk (I guess urine and feces weren't quite magnifiques enough). The odor can best be described as a blend of wet dog and Chernobyl, coaxed to maturity in a ship's bilge.

But back to the most exclusive perfume of all. What does Eau de Pizza Hut actually smell like? Well, to me it's an odd but comforting blend of cinnamon, baby powder and feet. I'm not sure, but I think the feet part might be the combination of the dough and cheese accords. After about 20 minutes, I start to smell the box -- which is a faint vanilla cardboard niff. It's really weird and I kind of like it.

Close call: Burger King Flame or Jubilation XXV?


Almost as much as I liked Burger King's limited edition perfume from a few years ago called Flame, described as “the scent of seduction with a hint of flame-broiled meat”. Sounds like something your dog could wear -- if he weren't already wearing Sexy Beast, the world's first high end “pawfume” for canines.

This blend of sweet amber and spices is formulated specifically for a dog's sensitive sense of smell. But it smells so good, you might end up borrowing it from your pet. Which has to make Sexy Beast the most exclusive perfume of all.

Looking for a fragrance recommendation? Visit Fume Finder: the Katie Puckrik Smells fragrance app.

16 comments:

  1. I cannot get over the fact the Will Oldham has a fragrance. WTF?

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    1. I know! The world as you know it is topsy turvy.

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  2. hey Katie now that is what I wish was under my tree...Happy Holidays smells to you from Miss Mirabelle and I.

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  3. Welcome back! Nice to see the theme back! Can we please stop the insanity? The only posh food perfume would be Eau de Blanc de Truffle!

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    1. Thanks, Gojira. Personally, I'd be interested to smell a Krispy Kreme Hot Doughnuts perfume...

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  4. Fun! And why not? Merry Christmas Katie!

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  5. I'm a snob so I won't be caught dead not even wearing - testing - Eau de McDonalds or In-and-Out-Burger Parfume Fraiche. Though I might consider - as a novelty item - something from Starbucks or Ghirardelli.

    Happy Holidays, Katie! And may they smell any way you want them to.

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    1. Thank you, Undina. So far, my holidays are smelling of Bruno Acampora Musc. With a dab of cannoli cream behind each ear.

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  6. I had no idea Burger King made a good perfume. Nor did I know about dog perfume. Thanks for alerting me to that fact. Your snarky note about how Pizza Hut uses exclusivity in the same way Chanel does is ironic and great btw.

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    1. I get a lot of delight from scentertainment inspired by unlikely sources: fast food and dog grooming needs.

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  7. Smells like feet and you still like it? Interesting. I'll check it out anyway. Good review.

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  8. Dear Katie- Wishing you a Merry Christmas!!Thanks for sharing all of the information, thoughts and opinions that you do- always delivered with wit and creativity!You and your missives are always a bright spot in the day, and for that, you do the world a great service!Hope your holidays are as bright and joyful as you!!!

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  9. Um, yay Canada for conceptual perfume art? Perhaps the footy scent is based on the scatter of oregano or other herbs used in pizza making. The cardboard drydown is ingenious, and it sounds like it does Dzing! one better...AnnieA

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    1. Annie, now that you mention it, Eau de Pizza Hut might slot in between "strange L'Artisans" Dzing! and Bois Farine.

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