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.

A Touch of KISS Everywhere

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?"

Certainly not Simmons, who has used his business acumen to extend the KISS brand into places you'd never expect and has kept it thriving years past the life span of a band that hasn't recorded an album of new material since 1992.

The KISS name has been licensed for use on an estimated 2,500 products.

In the years since the band created its fan base, the band has approved licensing for an assortment of products, from T-shirts to board games to KISS Kaskets.

Simmons once described a $4,700 coffin as "the ultimate KISS collectible."

Last summer, Simmons went one step further: He and his family opened their home to cameras for an A&E reality show, "Gene Simmons Family Jewels," which has been renewed for a second season.

"Gene's popularity has only increased since the show aired. There are a lot of young people who want to talk to him," Katz said.

A Brand, Not Just a Band

KISS reached its musical pinnacle in the 1970s, when it recruited a "KISS Army" enamored with the group's outrageous onstage hijinks and pyrotechnics, leather costumes and kabukilike black-and-white makeup.

Through the years, the band has sold 80 million albums and untold caskets.

Katz came up with the idea for the fragrances after attending a New York KISS expo -- one of dozens of fanfests held annually around the country -- where he saw hundreds of products for sale, and, well smelled an opportunity.

"They're a brand, not just a band," he said. "The lifestyle they represent was born out of their music. It's fun, exciting, sexy."

Not to mention profitable -- Katz reports that for every department store that Stanley and Simmons visit, there are sales of upwards of $30,000 to $40,000 of the fragrances.

The fragrances themselves -- as well as the packaging, marketing and advertising -- were approved by Stanley and Simmons.

Katz describes the women's fragrance as a "beautiful" floral/Oriental blend and the men's as a "modern Oriental fusion."

Both, incidentally, are infused with pheromones. According to a report on Simmons' Web site, he confidently predicted to fans at one in-store appearance, "When you put some on, you'll get lucky."

If wearing KISS isn't your cup of tea, then perhaps you'll be interested in another new licensee -- the KISS Coffeehouse in Myrtle Beach, N.C., which describes itself as "the most outrageous coffee and dessert shop ever constructed."

The cafe doles out Demon Dark Roast coffee and Frozen Rockuccinos, among other beverages, and airs videos of the band on big screens lining the walls.

When the coffeehouse opened in June, fans reportedly came from all over the country and waited for up to 12 hours to meet Simmons and Stanley, who gave their blessing in person.

"Myrtle Beach has always been a party center," Stanley said to a local reporter.

"This was the best place to get it started. Myrtle Beach is ground zero. … We're bringing coffee to a whole 'nother generation," he said.

Not to mention, a dollop of rock 'n' roll spirit.