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Imaginary Authors laughed all the way to the bank this April Fool’s Day.
The Portland-based fragrance house released the perfume Untamed last fall after posting a version as an April Fool’s gag. Its fans were surprised Tuesday when this year’s post, A Little Secret, turned out to be real. Fans returned the favor to the company’s founders by buying up a month’s worth of perfume in two days.
In a series of events straight out of a David Lynch movie, IA’s creative director Ashod Simonian tells WW that A Little Secret’s perfume pyramid came to him in a dream. Taking fake literary cues from a story on cherry pie and damn fine coffee, the gourmand A Little Secret’s notes—Rainier cherry, marzipan, patchouli, saffron, demerara sugar (essentially nearly raw sugar), rum-soaked tonka and “pastry crust”—immediately evoke Twin Peaks. Its accompanying fictional writer’s biography and book sound like something from Audrey Horne’s library.
“I thought it would be fun to prank our fans again, posting another out-of-this-world fragrance on April Fool’s Day but this time making it available for purchase,” Simonian says via email. “It’s so expected for brands to post jokes on April Fool’s Day that we wanted to take it one step further and make the joke real. Reading the comments and seeing all the people who got legitimately fooled was extremely entertaining.”
A limited-edition yellow mug with red lettering that reads “a slice of cherry pie and a cup of coffee” featured on A Little Secret’s box art sold out within hours of launch. A Little Secret will head the way of recently discontinued scent Telegrama at the end of April, and although it’s mostly sold out, Imaginary Authors’ website still lists samples ($7), and a limited restock of around 30 full-size 50 milliliter bottles ($115) will be announced online.