While many brands have said goodbye to Johnny Depp due to concerns about the actor’s personal scandals, Dior remains “loyal”. The sweet ending of choosing the right side has helped Dior “win big”. It has been 1 year since Johnny Depp re-signed his billion-dollar contract to represent the Dior Sauvage product line. Let’s take a look back at how Dior and Johnny Depp overcame thousands of obstacles to finally reap the “sweet fruit”!

1. Looking back at Johnny Depp’s lawsuit – a dramatic comeback victory

In 2016, the American media in particular and the world in general were shocked by the 2,297 billion VND lawsuit between the couple Johnny Depp – Amber Heard. Less than a year before, they secretly held a wedding in Los Angeles and were dubbed the most beautiful couple in Hollywood.

The secret wedding of Hollywood’s most admired couple

No matter how sweet it was, on May 23, 2016, the marriage began to show signs of cracking when Amber Heard filed for divorce from Johnny Depp in court on the grounds that there were irreparable differences between the two. reconcile. Four days later, she sued Johnny Depp for assault when she appeared in court with a bruise on her eye.

The dream love affair ended with the couple meeting in court.

The war officially started when both sides continuously presented evidence against each other for 6 years. There was a time when Johnny Depp was in a weak position and Amber Heard continuously presented unfavorable evidence. However, with a pincer tactic, surrounding his ex-wife from many sides and isolating Amber at decisive moments, Johnny Depp won the legal battle convincingly. The most noisy lawsuit in Hollywood history came to an end in June 2022 and Johnny Depp was “cleared” after 6 years of being known as a “brute”.

2. The story is not over yet, Johnny Depp has been “abandoned” by a series of brands

During the 6 years of litigation with Amber Heard, there were times when Johnny Depp’s name was on the brink of collapse. In particular, after the failure of the lawsuit against The Sun news site because of an article calling him a “wife beater”, the public’s trust in Johnny Depp was shaken. This is also the time when many brands decided to “get rid of” this once most sought-after actor in Hollywood.

“The Sun” calls Johnny Depp a “wife beater”

The first farewell comes from the position of Warner Bros. – the witch brand is already familiar to movie lovers. Immediately after the violence scandal with his ex-wife, the company decided to cut Johnny Depp’s role as Grindelwald in Fantastic Beasts, even though according to the original agreement, the actor would play the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald in all five films. This. The information came as a big surprise to fans, but in the midst of a precarious situation, Warner Bros. had no choice but to sacrifice Johnny Depp from Fantastic Beasts.

Warner Bros. Says Goodbye to Johnny Depp in Fantastic Beasts

Not only Warner Bros., Disney – the studio that did not hesitate to spend up to 128 million USD as a remuneration for Johnny Depp’s role in part 5 of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” series – also faced the decision to “go”. often “with male actors.” Johnny Depp’s shocking scandals caused Disney to say goodbye to Captain Jack Sparrow in part 6 of this film.

This is considered a heavy blow to Johnny Depp’s career because the Hollywood star was the soul of this famous series. Many viewers believe that the role of Jack Sparrow was born and tailored for Johnny Depp and that his “loss of the role” will leave an irreplaceable void.

Jack Sparrow – the role that made Johnny Depp famous

According to Mark Borkowski – a British media expert – the actor’s difficult acting path is like “climbing Mount Everest without oxygen, having to go barefoot and wearing only underwear”. The turning away of many brands towards Johnny Depp right before the incident was over caused the actor’s name to almost be “boycotted”.

3. Refusing to “gone with the wind”, Dior chose his own path when determined to stand side by side with Johnny Depp

In the midst of the “storm” – where a series of brands left because they feared that Johnny Depp’s drama would affect them, the only arm reaching out to support Depp was Dior. This was considered an extremely reckless decision, because at that time, Dior also received a lot of criticism from the public for accompanying an artist with a “stained” private life.

Johnny Depp has been the face of Dior Sauvage since 2015

Accordingly, the male actor continues to be chosen as the face of the best-selling men’s perfume line of Dior Sauvage – the brand that Depp has been with since 2015. Even after the scandal broke out, Depp still appeared in advertisement for the Eau Sauvage Elixir campaign, which aired during The Greatest Bake Off.

Despite the negative public reaction, Depp’s supporters saw Sauvage’s campaign as a victory for the actor. Fans of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” captain have been trending the hashtag #JusticForJohnnyDepp on Twitter, and have praised Dior for not abandoning their representative amid the scandal.

Johnny Depp received support from the public

“Johnny Depp is still the face of Sauvage, because Dior is not stupid” – a straightforward post expressing support for Depp and Dior.

4. The sweet ending that Dior received when choosing the “right side”

After a judge ruled in 2020 that Johnny Depp lost his lawsuit against the UK newspaper The Sun, sales of Dior Sauvage skyrocketed as fans supported him by purchasing the product. According to Cosmetify, searches for Sauvage on the Internet increased by 23%. The classic fragrance continues to be the best-selling men’s fragrance at The Fragrance Shop, and has been named a “Best Seller” on many perfume websites.

Sauvage becomes the world’s best-selling fragrance

Sauvage became the best-selling scent in the world, including lines for men and women, even while public opinion was still convinced that Sauvage perfume would be stopped because of women’s impressions of Johnny after the lawsuit. Domestic violence never ends.

By June 2022, the matter was settled with Johnny Depp’s convincing victory. Dior reaped the “sweet fruit” of its right decision to work with the actor. According to Bernard Arnault – CEO @LVMH (the group that controls Dior) presenting the group’s 2022 financial report in January 2023, Dior Sauvage has achieved significant success thanks to the image of actor Johnny Depp.

Dior Sauvage is on the list of best-selling perfumes in 2022

Not only that, The Wall Street Journal said that Dior Sauvage sales increased sharply during the lawsuit in 2022. Dior Sauvage was on the list of best-selling perfumes in 2022. Previously, in May 2021, according to Marie Claire, every three seconds a bottle of Dior Sauvage perfume was sold. At a price of $160/bottle, Dior is estimated to earn more than $4.5 million/day – an impressive number worthy of the risk from the Dior fashion house.

Depp and Dior’s tumultuous relationship continues to be extended with a record-breaking $20 million contract signed on May 12, 2023, for a period of 3 years. According to Variety magazine, the above contract makes Johnny Depp the highest-paid representative in the men’s fragrance industry. This figure far surpasses many previous records, such as actor Robert Pattinson’s $12 million deal to become a spokesperson for Dior Homme or Brad Pitt’s $7 million deal to promote Chanel No. 5.

5. Lessons for brands when encountering problems related to representative scandals

The story of Dior’s “loyalty” to Johnny Depp is a great lesson for brands when deciding to “stay or go” in the midst of a scandal involving their representative face. First of all, when a problem occurs, the brand needs to calmly verify the problem accurately. Looking at Johnny Depp’s case, at the time of the lawsuit, based on verified information, Johnny Depp had never been arrested or declared guilty by authorities or competent authorities for charges related to assault and violence against women. Thus, Dior acted with complete reason when it did not hastily part ways with Johnny Depp – the perfect representative of Sauvage’s image.

The fidelity of the fashion house from France

Besides, the voice of the public also needs to be heard because the brand’s decision will more or less cause a reaction from the fan community of the representative face and the brand. One of the strong motivations for Dior to continue working side by side with Johnny Depp is the support from the public for this actor.

Accordingly, on social platforms Twitter and TikTok, the number of people supporting the Pirates of the Caribbean star is still overwhelming compared to Amber Heard. Specifically, the hashtag JusticeForJohnnyDepp has attracted nearly 3 billion views. Listening to public opinion to make the decision to keep Johnny Depp has helped Dior “win big”.

Justice for Johnny Depp

After all, when choosing a representative, the brand needs to be sober in choosing and carefully researching who to entrust their work to. During the working process, the necessary binding terms in case of arising cases need to be clearly stated in the contract, avoiding unnecessary losses for both parties.

At the same time, before any issue related to the representative face, the brand also needs to carefully research the information and have appropriate reactions and actions according to the situation, listen to reactions from public opinion to find a direction. solve “both ways”.

Epilogue:

Dior and the story of “loyalty” to representative face Johnny Depp in the midst of the actor’s troubled personal life is a testament to the intelligence and daring of the French luxury fashion house. Without that steadfast handshake despite the storm, Dior would not have been able to enjoy the “sweet fruit” and win big in the hearts of the public, especially the fans of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” actor. This is also a lesson for brands when facing issues related to representative faces, any hasty action or reaction when the matter is not yet settled will make the brand pay a “heavy price”.