Cologne is one of the marks of the well put together man. However, choosing on that suits you can be challenging because the wrong choice can have the exact opposite intention, it can actually repel the people you want to get closest to. Unfortunately, most men don’t take the time to really choose a cologne that suits their personality and preference because they simply don’t want to take the time to sift through tens of bottles at a department store counter. In fact, most just choose a cologne based on advertising that they see or read, which makes since because that is what has been pushed in front of you. So, if that’s the case we wanted to review the brands that have become the most ubiquitous due to television and print commercials and see if there is any substance behind all of the flamboyance and narrow the field down for you.

To begin, we didn’t just want to spray on different brands like you would do at a department store so we started much more granularly and honestly, I was surprised to find out that the ratio between what was spent to actually develop a new, compelling fragrance vs the marketing budget was ten to one in some cases. It made me feel more like a consumer than a connoisseur. So let’s break down the top colognes for the Spring and Summer season that you have probably seen either in print or on TV and what we feel are the strengths and weakness of each.

These are not in any particular order in regards to preference so we might as well start off with the one with the highest marketing budget, Polo Red Rush. You have seen the commercials on some pretty big sporting events and certainly in every men’s magazine. Most of you aren’t old enough to remember when the first version of Polo hit the market, its iconic green bottle was a must have on hour dresser if you had someone come over and was the scent of choice for anyone under 35 at the time along with the original Armani. Those were great examples of in spite of the hype, not because of it, they lived up to expectations. Polo Red Rush is a little too bold for a daytime cologne as you don’t want to draw to much focus at the office or school. Remember, in the daytime if anyone else but you and your significant other can smell you then you’ve got too much on. However, for the evening it is a great cologne as it has a pleasant masculine sent that isn’t ostentatious or overwhelming. It does the brand proud but I don’t think it will ever match the popularity of the green.

Dior Sauvage – You know this one as well because of the marketing. The spots are actually done quite well with Johnny Depp driving in the desert and burying something that was a memento of his past. Unfortunately, I think the advertising is best thing about this fragrance as there nothing distinctive about it. It just didn’t have any staying power or anything that would make you remember the person wearing it.