Jared Leto’s Hugo Boss Cologne Ad: Black Suit, Green Screen

We’ll admit it: we’re oddly transfixed by this ad for Hugo Boss’s Hugo fragrance for men, starring Jared Leto. It’s only 21 seconds long (two-thirds the length of Justin Bieber’s “Someday” commercial, which, no, we are still not over, thank you very much) and yet there’s so much to unpack! To begin with, there’s the narration: “It’s the night. It’s just different! It’s whatever leads the way, and changes direction. It’s magnetic, a new perspective, another way to take the town; turn it upside down.” So cryptic!

And, while Leto himself is immediately recognizable—and is looking quite good in what we imagine must be a Hugo Boss suit—who are his four hip companions, all of whom walk in formation behind him? Has Leto ditched 30 Seconds to Mars for a boy band? If so, why weren’t we informed? Further, how exactly does Leto make a fire escape appear in the middle of a busy street, at 0:13, and who is he climbing up to see? And finally, with that last smoldering green-screen shot, is it possible that Leto is actually peering into our souls while the city spins behind him? That can’t happen through YouTube, right? We’ll have to watch it a hundred more times or so, just to be sure.

[ONTD]