TOMMY HILFIGER'S NEW TV SPOTS FOR "FREEDOM": FEW ENOUGH? SIX TOO MANY?

If you've ever wanted to see millions of dollars in creative development get pissed away in millions of dollars of media buys, you would only have had to watch this weekend's TV spots for Tommy Hilfiger's new fragrance, Freedom.

The spot was everywhere-- on NBC, on E! The first time we saw it, we thought, "Oh, there's that new Tommy fragrance." The second time we saw it, we thought, "Oh there's that new Tommy fragrance again. I guess it's for both men and women." The third time we saw it-- and this is all during one hour on Saturday afternoon-- we thought,"Hmmm, that Tommy commercial, again. The music's, uh, really great."

It was when we saw the commercial for the fourth time the things started to turn. We thought, "You know what? That music's actually kind of annoying. And besides, how arrogant is Tommy to think that he can get everybody to go to the mall tomorrow, to get a bottle of Freedom, if he blankets the airwaves with commercials for it today?" The fifth time was the clincher. We were fed up, and we knew that others were, too. Having heard Tommy himself say over and over again in the spot that he dedicates his new fragrance "to the youth of America"-- his well-rehearsed sincerity decaying progressively in its multiple reverberations-- you could feel the credulity of an entire demographic shutting down across the nation.

Which, of course, won't keep us from buying the stuff, if it smells good. We just won't believe in it, that's all.