“To wear this scent, you must resist tradition, fight conformity, and disregard aromatic conventions.” That time the Sex Pistols launched their own perfume to “feed your inner rebel”
This retrospective piece from Louder Sound revisits an unusual chapter in punk history: in August 2010, the Sex Pistols licensed their name to a perfume, launched in France and marketed as a way to "feed your inner rebel". The article treats the episode with tongue-in-cheek humour, framing the idea of a punk band selling fragrance as an inherent contradiction, given punk's original anti-establishment, anti-commercial ethos.
The perfume's marketing leaned heavily on rebellious imagery, urging buyers to "resist tradition, fight conformity, and disregard aromatic conventions" by wearing the scent. The piece uses the launch as a springboard to reflect wryly on how far punk iconography had travelled from its 1970s roots — from a movement associated with deliberately eschewing soap and grooming norms to a licensed consumer product sold in bottles decades later.
- Sex Pistols released a branded perfume in France in August 2010.
- It was marketed with slogans urging buyers to "feed your inner rebel".
- Article wryly contrasts punk's anti-commercial roots with the product's marketing.