Shocking move by Guerlain/LVMH - closure of Monsieur Guerlain website

[4Ever]

I am truly shocked and saddened.

Here is my initial Persefume facebook post:

"Extremely sad and frustrated to hear that Monsieur Guerlain webpage, Facebook fanepage, Twitter and YT account have been closed down by parent Guerlain's company LVMH, without any earlier notice.
The same appeals to other, smaller unofficial pages praising Guerlain's heritage. Monsieur Guerlain worked truly hard for many years to give us passionate stories about brand's history, always fresh news about upcoming novelties and honest reviews. It was real encyclopedia of knowledge for many thousands of fans and the page closure is completely unprofessional move from this huge corporation. Hoping for MG's return soon, stay strong!"

For me Monsieur Guerlain was unofficial brand's ambassador - yet the company took legal steps without any notice. Real shame on Guerlain - it is not the company it used to be!

 

[Johnny_Ludlow]

That is absolutely ridiculous. For what it's worth Mr G, you've got our support.

 

[4Ever]

Yes, it is like shooting in their own feet! Yet, the company did the same to several FB groups this weekend.

I know that Monsieur Guerlain is as confused and suprised as us. At his place I would be really considering decision on continuation of that hard work under new name.
Not to mentioned that all those reviews, discussions, findings were gone within seconds. Unfair - but after recent LVMH's moves (Guerlain's graffiti bottles, Dior Poison Girl) I am less and less convinced that they are even barely interested in keeping brands' heritage.

 

[sciencegirl]

I am so disappointed by this. I agree with you both, they are cutting off their nose to spite their face. They can credit his websites with educating me about their fragrances, resulting in a number of purchases. I am furious.

 

[hednic]

That is very disappointing news for sure.

 

[saminlondon]

If it's true, that's just crazy. I can understand that the name might have been an issue, but how can a brand stop other people from discussing its output? And why would it wish to do so, especially when Mr G's approach was so overwhelmingly positive? (sometimes too much for me, I confess)?

It would be great to hear Mr G's side of the story, though with the LVMH heavies breathing down his neck I'd understand if he chose to keep a low profile. Disgraceful behaviour on the part of LVMH.

 

[dealt7faux]

LVMH never has known what to do with Guerlain.

It's LVMH admitting they do not know what they are doing.

 

[4Ever]

If it's true, that's just crazy. I can understand that the name might have been an issue, but how can a brand stop other people from discussing its output? And why would it wish to do so, especially when Mr G's approach was so overwhelmingly positive? (sometimes too much for me, I confess)?

It would be great to hear Mr G's side of the story, though with the LVMH heavies breathing down his neck I'd understand if he chose to keep a low profile. Disgraceful behaviour on the part of LVMH.

Unfortunately true and spoke with Mr G via FB as well.
Nobody seen that coming - some other private groups like e.g. "Guerlain Perfumes" have been also affected and contacted by LVMH due to copyrights infrigement. He is frustrated and many of his fans are truly shocked thinking about some petitions and contacting brand. That knowledge was almost book-material.

 

[Oviatt]

This is such a shame. As others have said, he did more to promote the house than their own marketers did, and is an objective, third party way. Maybe they'll hire him inhouse? They are complicit in this--all of the information they provided him with, the invitations to meet with Wasser, etc....

 

[kumquat]

People write reviews and histories of perfumes all the time. Why single him out? It makes no sense. It doesn't even seem legal.

 

[4Ever]

People write reviews and histories of perfumes all the time. Why single him out? It makes no sense. It doesn't even seem legal.

Simple reason from their side: illegal use of Guerlain name. But they cut someone who benefited brand truly a lot, shame. And hiring is not possible nowadays - their recent actions are completely chaotic. Let's put old AA in more and more expensive bottle!

 

[Oviatt]

Research (sellside) analysts can write about public companies. Industry analysts like Gartner can write about a technology company's products. It is a shame that wonderful writers like le bon monsieur cannot--it seems--write about Guerlain. It is not like he was making any money from it....

 

[epapsiou]

People write reviews and histories of perfumes all the time. Why single him out? It makes no sense. It doesn't even seem legal.

I think you will find that what is legal has changed a lot since corporate take over of governments.
Copyrights ( length of time allowed before public domain keeps on increasing as mickey gets closer to cut off for example),patents and other means to extend monopoly are the ones that have been targeted a lot.
Heck you can't even rip your own blu ray to watch on your phone.

 

[grabuge]

...you will find that what is legal has changed a lot since corporate take over of governments.

So true!

 

[NebelGeîst]

Hopefully he has backups from all his articles and reviews... Maybe this issue can be solved in future (with some voices of customers telling LVMH this was the wrong move?).

I have the feeling that big corporations do not want informed and too passionate customers and prefere them dumb but consuming and solvent. Buy our stuff and don't think (nor talk) about it

 

[donna255]

In the words of The Rolling Stones, When The Whip Comes Down.

To be honest Guerlain, Dior are more into selling make up these days. I remember Roja Dove telling us at a event Guerlain make more from selling lipsticks than they do from selling fragrance. Just go to any beauty blog or forum and its Dior's new foundation and Guerlain's spring collection, what I am buying.

 

[alfarom]

Horrible news. Surely a bad day for perfume and perfume lovers all around the world.

I wrote a tiny piece on my blog to support this cause and sure I'll watch Guerlain with a very different eye now.

http://neroprofumo.blogspot.it/2016/02/is-guerlain-losing-plot.html

 

[Ken_Russell]

Sorry to hear this- his great knowledge, combined with a vast of high quality visuals about a house of Guerlain surely was a wonderful, fascinating way to promote and inform about this house, rather than a disservice

 

[furrypine]

I wonder if Guerlain got embarrassed that Mr.G "revealed" that they are re-launching older fragrances (especially from the AA-range) as new products, and at very inflated prices.

 

[Mr. G]

Dear all Basenotes friends. I'm extremely grateful for your support. The Guerlain marketing dep has attacked me for years, actually. In truth, I do understand that they don't like me using their name as part of my online persona - that whole thing actually started here on Basenotes! The attacks I received were about me posting about discontinuations, re-namings, future releases, and also the satirical visual comments I created, and they admitted that they found me too influential to deserve the use of their name. I deeply regret I didn't change my name years ago.

Then a few days ago, after I simply posted a link to some other site revealing some of the Guerlain news 2016, I was shut down. Like that. No warning, no message from either Guerlain or Facebook.

 

[the_good_life]

I feel confirmed in my opinion of the contemporary perfume industry as being pretty much the worst thing that ever happened to perfume.

sent from a mobile device - please excuse any smelling mistakes

 

[volsungen]

You have my utmost support. I cannot tell you how angered this makes me. I used to get dirty looks from these brainless marketing types when I wrote Vetivresse, and truly I thought the tide had turned in the bloggers' favor. But it hasn't. LVMH has shut down the finest resource about Guerlain's perfume heritage there is and has further embraced the dumb-and-dumber-style marketing that offends no one, informs no one and does nothing to sustain the dialogue of the perfumer's art.

 

[mumsy]

So if this ridiculous silencing is to be upheld, then I suppose this must mean that anyone else accidentally possessing the name of Guerlain or mentioning Guerlain in reviews must also be shut down... Never heard of anything so stupid and idiotic. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.

It will make perfumista customers so cross that they will not purchase any Guerlain product whilst the company continue with silencing of free speech. It is not something that belongs to the modern world.

There are more grown up methods of negotiating such affairs. Stamping feet such as this, is not one of them expected from a professional company. They do themselves enormous harm by appearing so foolish.

 

[FiveoaksBouquet]

After many decades of being a Guerlainophile, I had already been losing interest in Guerlain due to their flooding the market with substandard flankers on the one hand and ridiculously priced LEs on the other, while at the same time neglecting the classics and allowing them to deteriorate. Their closing of the wonderful Institut here was the beginning of the end for me. Shutting down Monsieur Guerlain pushes me further away. LVMH has to be pretty dense if they don't realize M. Guerlain's site helped create devotees of the brand. However, I do like Thierry Wasser's style when he is allowed some creative license (e.g. Cologne du Parfumeur, Idylle extrait) and frankly my hope is that he can eventually get out of Guerlain and move to a company where he is free of corporate constraints.

 

[teardrop]

Mr. G, l am gobsmacked & so sorry to hear about this. l agree with others here; this ridiculous action will surely do Guerlain more harm than good. Talk about shooting themselves in the foot, indeed!

l'd like to thank you for all the hard work, passion & dedication you have put into your site over the years, as well as for your kindness when you responded to a query of mine some time back. l do hope you will be able to continue in some form, though l completely understand why you might not wish to.

This is a sad day for perfumistas everywhere. :sad:

 

[chypre]

Absolutely shameful and myopic of Guerlain. Monsieur Guerlain's site was one of the best things that had happened to modern-day Guerlain - it was the one thing, in my opinion, that gave a semblance of soul to the company.

I'm not sure I want to continue being interested in a company that does this to its biggest fan.

 

[sciencegirl]

I will not rely on Guerlain's website for information about their perfumes! Long on hyperbole, short on information. Monsieur G, publish a book, I will buy it. Your blog was like an encyclopedia. Plus, news of upcoming discontinuations likely spurred people to purchase more of their beloved fragrances. I do hope my reposting links to your blog didn't contribute to this ridiculous outcome.
Agree with what all posters have stated.

 

[Kiliwia]

Wow, what a stupid move by Guerlain, I'm very disappointed in them. Monsieur Guerlain's website was one of the best sites out there, he's done more to promote the brand than they ever have.

 

[gimmegreen]

I am so sorry to hear of this Mr G - I loved your site! I didn't mind that you were overwhelmingly positive about the products, it was the depth of information and the gorgeous visuals (collected with much care no doubt) that drew me. As many other have said, you were their best brand ambassador, much better than their (increasingly tacky) marketing.
If they had a problem with your name perhaps they could have warned you off it or negotiated things. This jackbooted behaviour is just disgraceful.

 

[epapsiou]

Then a few days ago, after I simply posted a link to some other site revealing some of the Guerlain news 2016, I was shut down. Like that. No warning, no message from either Guerlain or Facebook.

That is DMCA at work

 

[drseid]

A ridiculous and ungrateful move, surely. I hope it ends up hurting the company financially, at least on some scale.

 

[JON RODGERS]

It beggars belief why they would seek to gag someone whose infectious passion for the brand probably helped create new legions of devotees. Sending my gratitude to Mr G for providing a benchmark reference that considerably broadened my knowledge and gave a great deal of pleasure in the process. I hope common sense prevails but I won't be holding my breath.

 

[epapsiou]

Absolutely shameful and myopic of Guerlain. Monsieur Guerlain's site was one of the best things that had happened to modern-day Guerlain - it was the one thing, in my opinion, that gave a semblance of soul to the company.

I'm not sure I want to continue being interested in a company that does this to its biggest fan.

Shameful yes. Myopic no. This would now let them have more control in how to project image of their fragrance to the masses without any critical(or detailed) honest critique.

 

[Jack Hunter]

It seems petty by Guerlain especially as Mr G was a fine blogger for all Guerlain fragrances. Maybe he can just change his name and anything else they can go after him for and go on as normal.

 

[Beranium Chotato]

Pulling the plug on his social media accounts is an affront to free speech and the very activity of candid talk about fragrance that we engage in here on BN. As someone who spends a lot of money on their fragrances, today I am ashamed to own them. So many of my purchases were guided by Monsieur Guerlain's advice that I find this news sickening. Adieu. Guerlain. We are done. #RIPmonsieurguerlain

 

[Le vagabond]

Thanks Mr. G for all your amazing work, it will be sorely missed. Only a few weeks ago I spent hours reading all your accounts on the fifty Guerlain vintages and their notes. Beautifully presented and an incredible source of information. I sincerely hope there is a way of bringing all your hard work back. You were extremely good to Guerlain.

 

[chypre]

Monsieur G, publish a book, I will buy it.

Oh yeah. I'd buy a couple at least. There are no books on Guerlain anymore, everything is years out of print.

Btw, is anyone protesting this with Guerlain? I've just sent an email, FWIW, to Ms Rousseau, but if there's anything else I can do, I'd love to know.

 

[pluran]

I feel confirmed in my opinion of the contemporary perfume industry as being pretty much the worst thing that ever happened to perfume.

sent from a mobile device - please excuse any smelling mistakes

+1

That's a hell of a site, Mr. G. Always loved to see it. Must be a way to get it or something like it back up.

As Chandler Burr made clear in his excellent book The Perfect Scent, "modern perfumery is predicated on lies and the withholding of information".

Oh yeah. I'd buy a couple at least. There are no books on Guerlain anymore, everything is years out of print.

Btw, is anyone protesting this with Guerlain? I've just sent an email, FWIW, to Ms Rousseau, but if there's anything else I can do, I'd love to know.

Definitely. I write these places all the time. Most people here don't think it'll matter, but if you care about the crap they make you oughta let 'em know what you think about it. It's easy, you just click on the link and write. Tell 'em to eat sh*t, whatever, but you probably wanna be more eloquent about it. You'll probably contact Isabelle Rouseau who's been with them a long time. She's always been great.

--------- www.guerlain.com/us/en-us#

these people are even more important. They're the ones who decided to remove the site. They've been doing their best to cheapen the quality of all kinds of things for a long time:

----------www.lvmh.com/contact/

 

[Beranium Chotato]

I guess when you're too busy deciding what kind of cupcake the newest LPRN flanker should smell like, a thoughtful and gently skeptical observer like M. Guerlain is probably a terrible nuisance. What a relief it must be for the marketing dept. to be free of him. And what a relief for me to dump this garbage in the snow.

https://twitter.com/RabbiMarsChen/status/696399444477132800
#RIPmonsieurguerlain

 

[Renaissance_Man]

People write reviews and histories of perfumes all the time. Why single him out? It makes no sense. It doesn't even seem legal.

Mr. G. truly was an ambassador for the brand.
Guerlain didn't just change yesterday. Remember when they attacked Octavian when he pointed out the stark resemblance of the bottle design for Insolence to a much older sculpture? Guerlain apologized to him later.
But I see this as an overall tightening of the brand "leakage" for them. Ebay outside of EU will be next and tactics such as we've seen from BNo9 will become more commonplace.

Edit to add: I came here to start a new thread to ask about Lili Bermuda and saw this. Wow how this got me derailed ugh.