Businesswoman, model, partner of Cristiano Ronaldo and protagonist of the reality show of the same name Georgina Rodríguez surprised yesterday with her performance as the protagonist and main ambassador of the Saudi perfume company Laverne. Under the pretense of promoting the virtues of the Blue Laverne fragrance he is promoting, Rodríguez appears in an ad in which he answers several questions about his experience as a resident of Saudi Arabia after his partner plays football there. The first quality that strikes about the country is that she feels immensely secure in it, only to emphasize, “I adore their family values.”
To understand the astonishment of these statements, some context of the culture to which they refer is necessary: women in Saudi Arabia remain under the care of a male family member, usually their father or husband, from birth and throughout their lives. They need your permission and consent for things as simple as beginning certain studies, living alone, getting married, accessing certain medical treatments, or even getting out of prison. Disregarding these prohibitions or disregarding your “guardian” can be grounds for sanctions. Aside from continuing to have significant difficulties going out in public alone, Saudi women are not free to dress however they choose. Most women are required to wear an “abaya” in public. This attire consists of a long black tunic that reaches to the ankles and a veil that covers the head and hair, revealing only part of the face. The country’s religious police, the “Mutawa”, monitors that women dress “appropriately” in public places and punishes those who do not in various ways.
It is known that in the Persian Gulf countries with a good economy, as is the case with Georgina, emigrants do not have excessive problems when it comes to putting on the desired outfits in the enclosures limited to them. Georgina and her family are temporarily staying in the Kingdom Tower, one of the tallest buildings in the Saudi capital, Riyadh. The residence is part of the Hotel Four Seasons and has two floors and 17 rooms that lack no detail. It is a temporary residence as he intends to settle in a mansion near the Al Nassr football field.
In announcing the fragrance, the protagonist of the Netflix reality show also says that she is particularly looking forward to attending Ramadan in her hometown for the first time while praising the beauty of the desert: “I was very happy to connect to can with heaven and earth and their magic.
The inclusion of Georgina in Laverne’s business strategy appears to be another attempt of several that the company has recently made to get closer to the western public. Just a few weeks ago, they presented their new official logo, an Arabian leopard that is clearly reminiscent of the Cartier panther.
According to the data shown in an interview for the Fragantica portal, which specializes in perfumes, Blue Laverne is one of the best-selling perfumes in the country. The brand’s founder and CEO, Khalid Al Mufadhal, said that almost 270,000 bottles were sold in the last six months, always bearing in mind that there is no way to compare this data. It is striking that it is a relatively cheap perfume: the 100 ml bottle. It can be bought on the official website for 185 Saudi riyals, which is 45 euros.