Adding yet another endorsement deal to her now seemingly endless “repertoire” of advertisements (including what currently remains her most non sequitur one: promoting Brazilian bank Itaú), Madonna has partnered with Kiko. A makeup brand long well-known in Italy for being something of bassa qualità (despite the price points). In other words, it’s the brand a notch above the kind found in grocery stores (and no, not exactly “the MAC of Italy,” as one outlet described it). And yet, clearly, because it’s Italian, Kiko can sell itself as something more “exotic”—therefore, “high quality”—in the U.S. Hence, emphasizing that it’s Kiko Milano.
And like previous Italian brands that have tapped American celebrities to usher them into U.S. consciousness (e.g. Calzedonia with Julia Roberts), Kiko is doing the same by enlisting Madonna. An Italian American who can, thus, perhaps bridge the gap between the countries, sellers’ market-wise. As for Madonna, she’s always looking for 1) ways to tap into her heritage (if the price is right) and 2) ways to put her image out there right at a moment when she herself has something to promote. In this instance, a new album.
Thus, the sequel to Confessions on a Dance Floor, Confessions II, is all over the styling and color palettes of not only the Kiko photo campaign, but also the first commercial, of sorts, for their “promotional journey” together. Not to mention Madonna’s not-so-recent fetish for amplifying callbacks to her past (a “gimmick,” if you will, that was also very much alive and well in Confessions II: The Film). As such, she “jokingly” snaps at her newest go-to makeup artist, Marcelo Gutierrez, “Do something else, do my eyebrows.” The phrase that became a “cunty favorite” from Truth or Dare as Madonna’s then makeup artist (apart from Sharon Gault), Joanne Gair, tried to work on her, let’s say, mouth area, only to be shot down so that M could vent to her then manager, Freddy DeMann, about the shitty crowd she had just performed for.
To further play up the reference, the one-sided exchange between her and Gutierrez is also shown in black and white (indeed, Madonna has been throwing it back more than once to Truth or Dare lately, thanks to her Grindr Presents Confessions with…Madonna “special,” which also has plenty of black-and-white moments to cement the homage to her 1991 rockumentary). What’s more, the first image in the promo is of Madonna’s back facing toward the camera as she walks around in a white robe (embroidered with her name on the back of it in cursive, naturally). White robes being her preferred post-Blond Ambition Tour performance attire, slipping into one immediately after wrapping up a show.
From the very start of the “commercial,” a remix of Madonna’s recent hit featuring Sabrina Carpenter, “Bring Your Love,” plays in the background while a smattering of Kiko products are briefly homed in on. Sort of like an afterthought—or in the manner that would be done if this were a scene from Josie and the Pussycats. Elsewhere, scenes of Madonna posing against a pink neon-light background amplify the connection to the original Confessions on a Dance Floor-era photoshoots, while giving some behind-the-scenes context to how the Kiko photos would actually turn out (including two images where shadowy stripes on Madonna’s face also connect to the album cover for the “Grindr exclusive edition” of Confessions II.
Another instant shows Madonna against a backdrop with the words “The Kiko Show” flashing behind her like it’s a Jenny Holzer installation (with far less to say, obviously), in between different scenes of her face being “fiddled with” by various makeup brushes (and toward the end, she feigns pushing them all away as though she’s actually exhausted from all the glamor—or perhaps, more to the point, all the time and effort it takes to be beautiful after “a certain age”).
Throughout the video, Madonna turns it all into an unserious campaign, having plenty of campy fun by envisioning Kiko as a “particular kind of girl.” One who has “danced, triumphant,” a “city girl,” of course, and a girl who’s “cunt.” Or, as Madonna concludes, “She’s cunt. Kiko Milano.” Which, yes, does sound, in its way, like it could be a drag queen’s name. Especially when Madonna says it in her version of an Italian accent. Which was recently pushed to its limits with her cover of “La Bambola,” a song recorded as part of yet another ad campaign Madonna offered up this year for Dolce & Gabbana’s The One.
The tone of the Kiko campaign is, in contrast, meant to be a bit more “fun,” more “playful” (though what could be more fun and playful than a threesome, one might ask when alluding to The One commercial). In its way, perhaps too fun and playful for an American audience to “grasp.” They being such a stodgy and overly literal demographic.
Nonetheless, one can only hope that, like Calzedonia and Intimissimi, Kiko will find what it’s looking for on the big business front in the U.S. Because surely, with someone as capitalism-savvy as Madonna (not to mention Macy’s, where the wares will be sold and where Madonna has already long had an in) on their side, they’ve got more than just a fighting chance.
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