Guerlain's "quantum" cream: a marketing coup gone wrong!
The cosmetics industry is constantly innovating to offer consumers ever more effective and surprising products. The famous Guerlain brand recently launched its Orchidée Impériale Gold Nobile product, billed as a cream "Quantum. But isn't the term overused? Is it really a revolution for our skin, or just a marketing ploy?
This Tuesday, Guerlain released its new €650 cream, allegedly "born of quantum science". It's a subject worthy of discussion. Back on January 2, the brand's website announced that Gold Quantum™ technology restores the "quantum light" of youthful skin. The star ingredient in this cream is the Gold Nobile orchid, endemic to the Himalayan region. At this point, we realize the magnitude of their marketing strategy: an exotic plant with exceptional virtues associated with Gold Quantum technology, enough to make you dream, or rather think.
Personally, I don't think it's reasonable to keep pushing this extravagant marketing, especially as we consumers are no longer fooled.
Brand Reaction and Communication Readjustment
Faced with the criticism and confusion generated by their campaign, the brand had to modify its communication. It acknowledged the questions raised by the use of the term "quantum" and tried to clarify its position.
Between Marketing and Science
This case highlights the tension between marketing strategies in the cosmetics sector and scientific integrity. It highlights the need for more transparent communication based on verifiable scientific evidence, especially when it comes to claims linked to technological or scientific advances.
For French video artist G Milgram, who published a video dedicated to the subjectall this evokes a "quantum bullshit ".
Experimental physics researcher Martina Knoop, interviewed by 20 Minutesagrees. " There's a lot of talk about the second quantum revolution at the moment, and real scientific progress is being made. Here, it's a rather clever communication ploy, with a pseudo-scientific discourse. "she explains to the media.
A similar reaction has been expressed by Étienne Klein, physicist and philosopher of science. " At first I thought it was a hoax, but no: a brand claims to have created an expensive cream using a 'new way of skin rejuvenation born of quantum science'". I can hear the corpses of Schrödinger, Dirac and Heisenberg spinning in their graves. "
To understand the science behind these claims, we need to look at the concept of quantum light. This notion stems from quantum physics, a branch of physics that studies phenomena on a subatomic scale. However, it's not clear that these phenomena can be directly linked to skin aging.
According to the experts interviewed by G Milgram, the idea of considering this cream as "quantum" is in fact a "myth". extreme simplification complex scientific concepts.
In the end, what can we learn from this story?
- Experts are skeptical as to the validity of Guerlain's claims concerning its quantum cream.
- It would seem that the scientific concepts used are actually a extreme simplificationthe true principles of quantum physics.
- The use of the term "quantum in this case seems to be primarily a marketing strategy.
Faced with these criticisms, Guerlain has also " decided to clarify its communication in order to remove any ambiguity. "and shared a link to " the scientific foundations and results of our work ". However, this is not a link to a rigorous scientific study, but toa page on the Guerlain website. The latter states that Guerlain's researchers ". have carried out work on human skin cells in collaboration with a team of biophysicists from Palacky University. "However, no further details are given on the work itself, or on the researchers who carried it out.
