Promise her anything, but give her Arpege!

Promise her anything, but give her Arpège! is best known as a mid-20th-century advertising slogan for Arpège, the luxury perfume created by Jeanne Lanvin’s fashion house (Lanvin) in 1927. The line belongs to the tradition of French/European perfume marketing that framed fragrance as the decisive, tangible gift amid romantic promises. It circulated in print advertising and promotional copy rather than as a literary aphorism with a single attributable speaker, which is why it is often credited as “Anonymous” or to advertising copywriters rather than to Lanvin herself.

The slogan plays on the contrast between words and deeds: “promise her anything” suggests that verbal assurances are cheap or unreliable, while “give her Arpège” proposes a concrete, prestigious object that stands in for devotion. It also reflects the gendered consumer logic of its era, implying that a woman’s satisfaction can be secured through a luxury purchase—specifically, a branded scent associated with elegance and status. Rhetorically, it uses imperative command and brand-name punchline to make the product the climax of the sentence, turning romance into a transaction anchored by a recognizable luxury signifier.

“Promise her anything, but give her Arpège.”
“Promise her anything—but give her Arpège!”
“Promise her anything… but give her Arpège!”