Paris Hilton, the face of perfumes such as Heir and Heiress, Just Me, Fairydust, and Can Can, is being recognized by the Frangrance Foundation (aka FiFi) as the Celebrity of the Year. The award is “the first of its kind,” and the press release assures us all that Paris has agreed to accept it (as if there were any doubt she’d turn down publicity and a chance to feel superior). The award is also being given in conjunction with a 5-year extension of Paris’ contract, and along with the announcement came the news that two more unnamed celebrities would be joining the Parlux family, along with Jessica Simpson, Andy Roddick, Queen Latifah and of course Paris.

Neil Katz, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Parlux said, “We are extremely pleased that Paris has been selected for this initial prestigious award. Parlux has recently renewed its fragrance license with Ms. Hilton for an additional 5-year period and we look forward to the continued success of this brand.”

Mr. Katz added, “As mentioned at our last shareholder conference call, we’re close to finalizing fragrance
licenses with two major celebrities. Last week, our Board of Directors unanimously approved the proposed
agreements with these celebrities. Although nothing is 100% certain, we are finishing final details at this
time and hope to announce these new licenses very soon.”

[from Parlux.com]

Maybe it’s just me, but there are a couple things off here. First of all, how can she be the celebrity of the year if it’s only April 2009? It seems a bit late to be awarding her for being the 2008 celebrity. The other question is, why Paris? I’ve searched around and found no proof that her name has sold the most perfume, and even Parlux gives no reason as to why she would be recognized. I’m wondering if this was part of the 5-year contract. She gets more money and an “award,” and they get to put her name on their product. The fact that the award is “the first of its kind” leads me to believe that there’s something going on behind the scenes. Either way, Parlux has just enabled Paris’ ego, and that is never a good thing.

[Thanks to The Superficial for the story]

Here’s Paris with her boyfriend Doug Reinhardt at Coachella on April 18th. Images thanks to WENN.com .