60
submitted 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) by Kelebogile@sh.itjust.works to c/vintageads@sh.itjust.works

This is perfume that you can spray in anywhere:

  • Your home
  • Your clothes
  • Your ears

I wonder what is 'bend-over' mean. Is it trademark ?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] Lumisal@lemmy.world 11 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

For those wondering exactly what these are, I know of them because they were still pretty popular in the 1990s among Hispanics (which my family is). They're basically essential oil perfumes that have supernatural aromatherapy beliefs attached to them. Basically the thought was the scent "attracted" or "emitted" some characteristic, such as attracting luck, or warding off evil. The ingredients were literally just alcohol with oils mixed into them you'd spray or dab on for the pricier stuff, or alcohol with synthetic aromas (and other more questionable ingredients) in the very cheap stuff.

That's also why they have the weird names - to make them seem more foreign in this case but to say what they supposedly do. Bend-Over is known as "El Emperador" or "Reino" (The Emperor or Reign) in Spanish, implying you get the aura or a commanding figure. They chose Bend-Over because just people didn't know the word "capitulate". Scrub's ad description doesn't quite match its name but in other languages it translates basically the same and was supposedly used to wash off "the evil eye" or people's bad vibes / jealousy they'd cast onto you (hence the picture of washing clothes with it).

Has No-Harra is the funniest misinterpretion they did - can't tell if they mixed three languages or two. Harra means "harm", but could also be mistranslated "haras" in Spanish which means "to do", so "No haras" which means "you shall not do" - and that scent was supposed to be to prevent harm being brought to you, like curses and hexes. That one probably went through a game of telephone since "preventing misfortune" probably got translated to "having fortune" would be my guess.

But yeah, spiritual / supernatural aromatherapy has historically been a thing in multiple cultures. If you're Catholic you might have even seen some sort of scent magic still used - the burning of incense at church. Just thought I'd share some of the history and culture behind these things.

Edit: Tl;Dr + extra context: these are "scent magic" perfumes taken from a poor misinterpretation of other cultures and religions that popped off during the age of occultism in the Victoria era

[-] verity_kindle@sh.itjust.works 3 points 4 months ago

Thank you for the context.

this post was submitted on 04 Jul 2024
60 points (100.0% liked)

Vintage and Retro Ads, Promos, Fliers, Etc.

614 readers
1 users here now

For sharing images of vintage magazine ads, fliers, promos, etc.

We're going to play it pretty loose with timeframe here so please don't get offended anyone :)

founded 6 months ago
MODERATORS