American Muslima Writer -Daring to Work Towards Jannah

This is an odd post for sure but it's such an odd feeling to be captivated by a meer commercial. I'm talking about the commercial 1 Million by Paco Rabanne. It's a cologne for men. Being the person I am I notice the beautiful details in life and when something beautiful captures my eye it really stick with me.
I was watching ArabSat Channel MBC2 which plays US Movies interrupted by frequent short commercials. This commercial came on with such brilliant advertisement that it stuck with me and the fact that they played it twice with each commercial set surely helped it stick in my mind. here is the Video. I felt that to get this out of my system I needed to analyse why it's so powerfully attractive. As the Author of Romance Novels I wanted to understand how powerful images pull people's emotions. So I'm going to analyze each scene.


1 Million by Paco Rabanne -Click the link if for some reason I can't figure out how to load a video to watch the commerical.
Here is an intersting insight to the smell

(Scenes marked with *** were deleted from Arab viewing as censorship of unislamic things. So these scenes weren't part of what pulled me but I will analyze them since they are in the Internet video)


Scene 1: *** Intro: Music Start up, The music is a catchy sound to begin with with lots of abrupt pauses which are filled by the sound of a snap. We see a man enter the view. Let's talk about this man. This is male model Mat Gordon. His hair is rakishly combed forward and a bit to the side with uneven fringe. Showing youth, style, most important though covering the majority of his eyes and casting his other eye partly in shadow through most of the film. This is important because we are not clearly seeing HIM but what he represents. Thus his high cheekbones and long straight nose are highlighted. His chin stays carefully tucked down throughout the commercial focusing us on his body not on his face. His hair far is more noticeable than his features. His black well fitted expensive suit is highlighted by the slightly upturned white collar unbuttoned to mid chest. The upstanding collar also adds an air of rakishness to balance the triangle of his hair going the opposite direction. The light flashes on and off giving action for the eye to follow.
Scene 2: *** He snaps with a strong gracefully long fingered hand with a large power ring on the middle finger. Notice the form of the hand as it snaps. It is upright with the flick going backwards, thumb ending up, not dropping to the side as most people do when they snap. It's a snap of obedience. It's calling something. The something arrives promptly in the form of dice dropping. Music starts more rapidly.
Scene 3: (this is where the commercial intro-ed on MBC2) He is profiled in shadow from waist up as he snaps and end it this time in a pointing of his finger. Thumb is still up in the form of power. We sense the power of his body in this shot. The angle of his shoulders straight yet commanding yet his chin still tucked. The snap brings us to the next object a beautiful and expensive car (I don't know the model I'm not a car person really but perhaps Porche). The front beams turn on at his snap.
Scene 4: Now we've seen how powerful his snap is they focus back on him. His body: The chin finally tilts up showing his face more clearly. The chin raising shows a sense of arrogance along with wealth. He KNOWS he's wealthy and powerful and he likes it. His hair is swept back a little showing more clearly his eyes. The music pops out with an Oo! To punctuate the snaps.
Scene 5: *** His body all the way down to the accented hipbones fully bare chested accented by the white upturned collar shirt and black suit, two female arms grab him forcefully in a way that ripples the white shirt attractively.
Scene 6: Shows him having fun now with his power, dancing to his snap and throwing his shoulder in what I call a Power Snap. Try it yourself it feels powerful. A double snap brings a falling bag loaded with cold hard cash spilling out all over the smooth floor.
Scene 7: He licks his finger before the snap then *** flips his shirt open showing a flash of skin along his hipbone (well know female favorite view) and *** a drop of ice into most likely liquor.
Scene 8: Flipping the collar smartly of his overcoat up in the dark then standing in shadow in front of a casino. A double snap turns on the lights.
Scene 8+: *** Large pile of gambling chips stacked neatly while one chip clinks against the counter.
Scene 9: He's sitting laid back against an opulent leather chair with inlaid studs. His shirt is laid open to mid chest with that irresistible collar peaking up again. This Snap is different. It's forward directly facing his knuckles which is an unnatural movement thus making it more noticeable. Try it yourself it feels odd. The roulette wheel spins and the ball lands on the marker that presumably he wants it to land on.
Scene 10: Music speeds up after the gambling flashes and shows him really into his power now flinging his croppy hair sideways with the thrust of his Power Snap. His white shirt still the attracting factor with the flipped collar and half chest view.
Scene 11: Another close up view of the hand snapping. His face in dark then suddenly orange glow lights it from the side shadowing his eye still with the rakish hair. Orange/Gold fireworks blast in rapid succession (just for him ;) )
Scene 12: The light plays over the Gold Cologne Bottle showing "1 Million" in Old Fashioned Elegant Scroll as the Music slows down to let you take notice of the brand name.
Scene 13: Photographers (paparazzi) armed with lights and cameras vie for pictures flashing madly as the Music upbeats with chorus' of Oo! Oo! to punctuate the camera "snaps". He dances his head back and forth keeping his powerful chin in line. Accent on the collar and hair flips. Clearer view of his face. Notice he's wearing a vest now instead of a jacket over the white shirt. This adds definition to the side to side movement allowing you to see the flips of his shoulders more clearly.
Scene 14: A large old fashioned light glares brightly followed by a power snap and point as he snaps and dances and shows off his body's power.
Scene 15: He throws a side snap (which is my second favorite snap in the commercial) and that expensive powerful car spins it's wheels in the gravel as it races off showing the gleaming hubcaps and fender.
Scene 16: (My favorite snap) Hand in pocket to show relaxed power as a full body shot as he throws the Power Snap with hand remaining at head level. A woman takes notices of the snap and the allure of the power behind it (didn't we all) and turns wide eyed. Her long wavy blonde hair against black classy dressed shows she's one not normally easily impressed.
Scene 17: He has so much power in his snap he can even do it behind his back.
Scene 17+: ***The back of the woman's legs are shown from thigh to the floor (a classic male loved view of legs) and her skirt drops swiftly to the floor. Which shows in a subtle way that he can bed any woman. *Shown: Her glossy lips part slightly.
Scene18: Last snap, dark shadows again featuring the classic look of him throughout the commercial, hair still raked, collar still peeping up.
Scene 19: last scene showing the cologne glowing gold again against a black background and Narrator says: "1 Million, the new fragrance for men by Paco Rabanne" as Paco's name glints in gold.


My take on this the first time I saw it was: it caught my eye when most commercials don't. Obviously it was about a man who has money and power and gets whatever he wants with the snap of his fingers. It's about class. Make that Class with a capital C. And Class is always appealing even when there are single images we don't like. I for one did NOT like them portraying him snapping and the woman turns (though again didn't we female all turn). We women are not dogs to be called by the snap of our "masters". The idea he can snap his fingers and her skirt drops is revolting. The alcohol and gambling parts of course I don't like and I was happy that they were edited out when aired here. After watching and being drawn to it I felt the pull to buy it. More importantly I knew men were going to feel the pull to buy it. For men especially Gulf Arabs who many (not all) already think they can get what they want with a snap will find this video extremely appealing especially (thankfully unshown here) where her skirt drops. So on the whole I applaud Paco Rabanne for a well made commercial that for once worked on me. Yet I gotta say again Paco shame on you, we aren't dogs. We feel the pull of a powerful man yes but if you think I'm gonna drop my skirt at the snap of a man's hand you have got your jeans snapped a little tight.