It is inferred that the fans of the 57-year-old actor are massively buying the cologne he promotes, Sauvage by Dior, as a gesture of support after the High Court of London at the beginning of the month considered him worthy of being described as “wife-beater ”, while the film and advertising industries started to turn their backs on him.
Depp has been the perfume’s public face since its launch in 2015 with a campaign that, even then, was branded racist for its portrayal of Native Americans, which received complaints last week for using a figure as controversial as the actor from Pirates of the Caribbean.
After losing his defamation lawsuit against The Sun, Depp has been forced to pay the tabloid a sum of 701,000 euros in fees, after the court found him guilty, this month, for assaulting his ex-wife Amber Heard in mid 2010.
For his part, Depp has received between 2.5 and 4.1 million euros for his work on the Sauvage advertising campaign.
Public relations expert Mark Bokowski – who has worked with Michael Jackson and American Express, believes that “the sensible thing to do for Dior would be to break its relationship with Depp. Everything can be stopped at the push of a button, if they wanted to”.
Since the announcement, many Depp fans have used the hashtag #Justiceforjohnnydepp to post messages in support of the actor and his relationship with the Dior brand.
According to Cosmetify data collected by The Guardian, after the judge’s ruling , Internet searches for Sauvage have shot up 23%, and it is the best-selling men’s perfume in The Fragrance Shop.
