Smells Like Middle-Age Spirit

Oct. 27, 2006 — -- Lending a whole new meaning to the phrase "kiss and make up," the legendary rock band KISS has brought its brand name to a cosmetics counter near you.

Those who want to adopt the "rock and roll all night, party all day" lifestyle can now forgo the exhausting social whirl, and only spritz on some eau de Gene Simmons.

KISS Him cologne and KISS Her perfume, which went on sale on Oct. 1, are sold in department and retail stores for around $39.

There are also ancillary products like "Party Shower Gel," "Lovin' Body Lotion," "All Night Deodorant Stick" and "Rockin' After-Bath Splash" that will enable true believers to be KISSed from head to toe.

And as absurd as it may sound for a rock band to create a fragrance line -- it makes one wonder, what exactly would the U2 scent smell like? -- for the legendary 1970s rock band, it's just another savvy business move that takes its rowdy image and leverages it into a sound business proposition.

Rockers routinely tour to support their albums, and right now band members Paul Stanley, 54, and Gene Simmons, 57, have hit the road to support their scents.

They're making visits to department stores from coast to coast, and buyers are lining up for hours to get an autograph and a photo op with their idols.

"We've been having 2,500 fans show up [at Simmons' appearances], "said Neil Katz, president and CEO of Gemini, the New York firm behind the fragrances.

Katz has been traveling with Simmons this week. He said that the fragrance's customers were both young and middle-age, and came from all walks of life.

Friday night in Las Vegas, Simmons will preside over a big, splashy launch party for the fragrance line at the Pure nightclub in Caesar's Palace.

And, somewhat incongruously, on Saturday, he'll be at the Dillard's department store down the Strip.

Last week, Simmons even visited Fort Bragg, N.C., where the post exchange did fast business on the fragrances.

Asked by a reporter there why he had approved use of the KISS name for the cosmetics, Simmons said, "If people decide that a KISS fragrance line makes sense, who's to argue with America?"