Well, this smells like a prank. But, apparently, it’s not.
Xyrena, a California company that bills itself as a “celebrity partnered on-demand perfumery,” is releasing “Andy Kaufman Milk & Cookies,” a fragrance inspired by the comedian’s 1979 Carnegie Hall show that ended with him taking the house out for … milk and cookies … in a fleet of waiting buses.
The scent, which will sell for $42, is being released to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the legendary late comic’s appearance on the debut episode of “Saturday Night Live,” according to the company.
“Andy Kaufman once said, ‘There’s no way to describe what I do. It’s just me,’ ” Xyrena founder Killian Wells said in a news release. “That quote and Andy’s opposition to the societal norm has always resonated with me. As a New York native and fan I’m excited to pay homage to Andy’s undeniable genius.”
Wells is paying that homage with a fragrance that “opens with top notes of sugar and sweet butter then develops into a heart of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies and a delicate note of creamy milk, followed by bottom notes of vanilla extract and white musk,” according to Xyrena.
The company has created fragrances with the family of the late singer Aaliyah, YouTube star Sebastian Olzanski, a contestant on “RuPaul’s Drag Race” called Pearl, and Dalton Maldonado, a Kentucky teenager who came out as gay while playing for his high school basketball team.
Kaufman, who died in 1984, was known for elaborate pranks and hoaxes. He sometimes appeared as a foul lounge singer named Tony Clifton, wrestled with women and, according to some, planned to fake his own death.
As recently as a few years ago, rumors were still swirling that his reappearance was imminent, then his brother, Michael Kaufman, said he had been the victim of a hoax.
In its news release, Xyrena quoted Kaufman as saying “It’s great to have Andy brought back, in any way, even if only in a bottle.”
“Call me crazy but I still fantasize about the day when Andy will return, performing in front of live audiences again,” the company quoted Michael Kaufman as saying.
“Andy Kaufman Milk & Cookies” will debut at the Andy Kaufman Award show Sunday in New York, the company says.
