The strange Lanvin chocolate commercial featuring Salvador Dalí
Over the years, chocolate advertisements have been carefully crafted campaigns aimed at engaging specific target demographics. Most of them either centre around sensuality and viscera to resonate with the masses or opt for a lighter approach, featuring giant gorillas playing the drums to the tunes of Phil Collins. Yet, when it comes to delivering hilarity and extravagance, who could be more fitting for the job than the maestro of surrealism, Salvador Dalí himself?
“Je suis fou du chocolat Lanvin!” Dalí bellows, fixing his gaze directly into the camera’s lens, just as you might expect. Let’s remember that in Dalí’s surreal universe, the most sensible thing is often something that appears entirely out of place. From this perspective, his 1968 advertisement for Lanvin, a chocolate brand under the Nestlé group, aligns perfectly with his artistic sensibilities.
Accompanied by Beethoven’s symphony and a backdrop of snow-covered mountains, he expertly snaps a piece of chocolate, turning the ordinary act into a purposeful act of defiance. As he savours a bite, his eyes roll backwards, lost in the pure delight of the flavour, and his signature moustache springs upward like the hands of a malfunctioning clock. He then echoes his one and only line through the camera and into our world, a phrase which translates in English to: “I am crazy for Lanvin chocolate!”
The commercial aired only in France, with the confectionary company using the artist’s face to promote their “snail-shaped” chocolates stuffed with a creamy praline centre. Dalí held a deep fascination with the commercial as a form of artistic expression, and advertising represented just one of the arenas in which he ventured during his lifelong and multifaceted career.
In 1969, Dalí’s artistic prowess extended beyond the canvas when he designed the iconic Chupa Chups logo. During a casual coffee encounter with Enric Bernat, the director of the Lollipops company, Dalí began to sketch various names, and it was during this impromptu session that the distinctive logo took shape. Although Bernat had initially enlisted the services of an advertising agency to rename the lollipop, fate intervened with Dalí’s creative genius, resulting in the birth of one of the world’s most iconic brand logos.
Dalí’s ventures also appeared in other various commercials, including for Alka Seltzer and Veterano Brandy. According to his biographer, Meryle Secrest, Dalí commanded a substantial fee for his minute-long appearances on film, with a minimum request of $10,000. Dalí’s fascination with money and opulence became legendary, earning him the playful moniker ‘Avida Dollars’, an anagram of his name derived from the French phrase ‘avide à dollars’, which translates to ‘eager for dollars’.
For Dalí, therefore, advertising was as much a form of expression as a potential revenue stream: one simple, lighthearted advert selling Lanvin chocolate could pave the way for millions somewhere down the line. His quest for more affluence was noted among peers and writers alike, including Dalí specialist Stan Lauryssens: “From the 1960s everyone knew that Dali needed close to half a million dollars a month to fund his lavish lifestyle,” he explained. “He was living like a mini-maharajah.”
Supporting his extravagant lifestyle required a substantial income, and advertising provided a practical solution. As evident from his various endeavours, he was a prolific figure, engaging in projects ranging from endorsing chocolate bars to promoting antacids.
At the same time, his involvement in commercials was a testament to his enduring impact on the world of art that extended beyond just the traditional, expected realms and his ability to bring his distinctive artistic sensibilities into other creative domains. Commercials like the one he did with Lanvin, for example, remain memorable and iconic examples of Dalí’s ability to blur the lines between art and everyday life.
