Olympic gymnast Max Whitlock has spoofed some of the perfume industry’s most famous adverts starring Brad Pitt and David Gandy.
The bare-chested athlete, 27, nods to Pitt’s famous 2012 commercial for Chanel No 5, in which the Hollywood star pondered the mysteries of life, during a video campaign for Samsung’s ecobubble washing machine.
In another shot, Whitlock reclines on a boat floating in a rocky cove, pointing towards Dolce and Gabbana’s risque 2007 advert for Light Blue, starring model Gandy in a pair of white briefs.
The two-time Olympic gold medallist also spoofs Versace’s dramatic 2014 advert for Eros, which saw a male model dressed as an ancient Greek warrior brandishing a bow.
Instead, Whitlock poses with a Union flag cape, trident and gladiator-style gear atop a washing machine.
The campaign, to mark the launch of Samsung’s latest ecobubble washing machine, will also see the launch of a unisex fragrance, created by Sarah McCartney and called Freshly Laundered – Eco Edition, based on the scent of washed clothes.
The advert runs with the slogan: “Pour homme. Pour femme. Pour laundry.”
Whitlock said: “When they spoke about the campaign and the concept of what they wanted to do it just seemed like a lot of fun and something where it’d be almost stepping out of my comfort zone a little bit.
“Something I hadn’t really done before, a side that people haven’t really seen of me really and I thought the concept was brilliant.”
Speaking about replicating Gandy’s shots, he said: “First thoughts probably… short shorts!
“But I think that was part of the challenge, to replicate these legends who’ve done it before, David Gandy, Brad Pitt – try and get as close as I can to what they have done before.
“I feel like I’ve done alright. I tried my best anyway.
“That’s the fun thing about it, we were looking at the picture and then on the shoot (we) had a boat and a green screen and just gave it our best shot and I love how it’s come out.”
Whitlock said he usually wanted to “keep that professionalism”.
He added: “But this was something that was different, something that does show a bit more of my personality, that I’m generally quite a chilled, fun person.
“So I wanted to kind of use this to help me get that across and it was the perfect way to do it.”
The fragrance is available to customers who purchase an ecobubble from Samsung’s space in Coal Drops Yard, King’s Cross.
Some bottles of the new scent will be available to win via Samsung’s social channels.
– The campaign has been created to launch Samsung’s new ecobubble washing machine which comes with a unisex Freshly Laundered Eco Edition fragrance.