Axe (known as Lynx in some countries) is a body care brand primarily aimed at men, though its parent company, Unilever, suggests otherwise. As we've discussed in class, Unilever also owns Dove, known for its Real Beauty campaigns. Originally founded in 1983, Unilever proudly proclaims that Axe has been helping guys get the girl since the brand launched, acknowledging that the brand is based on "disruptive advertising" and "attention grabbing ads." Axe's ads have largely relied on tying sex appeal to masculinity, portraying individuals who use Axe as "real men" who easily attract women. One early 2000s ad features a cheerleader chasing a football player onto the field, tackling him and ripping off his clothes. The ad suggests that this is part of the "Axe Effect." In this ad, sex appeal is linked to smelling "good," while athleticism and other stereotypical masculine attributes taking on a more ancillary position. Women, on the other hand, are reduced to caring solely about scent, suggesting that women are ultimately driven more by lust than anything else. The also features one of the core components of Axe ads from the 2000s: sexual attacks as the result of using Axe. What would generally be considered rape is lauded as a positive when it happens to men by various Axe ads, reflecting and highlighting a dangerous norm of our society.
Other Axe ads feature similar tones while moving away from the older style of ads. The ad shown in the video above, entitled "Office Love," originally aired in 2012. The ad features hair and a female chest on legs, showing how the two characters are constantly prevented from interacting with each other until after work, at which point they become regular humans. The ad proclaims that "hair [is] what girls see first," and recommends using an Axe product to attract women. Masculinity is tied to both Axe products and good-looking hair in this ad, though it's important to note that the ad suggests that attractive hair is only possible due to Axe in the first place. The ad also implies that while women see and focus on hair first, men first see and focus on breasts, tying masculinity to lust. The implication for women, on the other hand, is inherently objectifying. Breasts are used as the sole gender identifier for an entity that would otherwise be featureless and genderless. The hair itself, on the other hand, is not linked with any real gender identifier until the end of the commercial, where it's revealed to be the hair of a man.
Axe launched another ad in 2013 to promote its Black Chill product line. The ad's narrator states that "the world is facing one of the biggest crises in the history of history: girls are getting hotter and hotter." Men are shown getting into various accidents due to lustfully staring at passing women. Samantha Escobar notes that ad shifts blame of men’s poor behavior onto women, linking the cultural ties between appearance and justification/victim-blaming to the ad. Escobar also notes that men are portrayed as being unable to control themselves without using a product. Escobar's observations suggest that the ad is tying "true" masculinity to lust, with consumerism being the only option to control said lust.
A more recent ad, which aired for the first time in 2016, offers a different view of masculinity. The "Find Your Magic" ad attempts to add diversity to what would typically be considered "masculine" by our society, featuring a paraplegic man and a man dancing in heels. Axe's senior director, Matthew McCarthy, stated that more than ever, guys are rejecting rigid male stereotypes. Carlo Cavallone echoed McCarthy's sentiments, saying that the intended purpose of the ad was to give guys a sense of confidence and liberate them from stereotypical bullshit about what it means to be a man. While the ad is more inclusive than the average Axe ad, there is still much to be desired. All of the men in the ad share the same lean body type, though some are more toned than others. Masculinity, therefore, is tied solely to this body type rather than multiple different body types. Women receive less focus than in most Axe ads, though they are still portrayed in sexually objectifying roles (reflected when the narrator says "who needs all that when you've got...the touch" while a woman moans in bed).
The Axe Company is one of many possessive male companies that portray a more masculine sense using these hygienic products. Axe portrays women as being a brutal, and desperate woman that is existing in the sole purpose of pleasing men. Axe seems to use various Tanique’s not just found in ads but as well, other forms of media such as music videos to sell the product. Some Tanique’s include “sexy” clothing, camera angles, and wet bodies to objectify women as being “sexy “material. Axe commercials, advertisements, and slogans seem to become clear that the repetitive imagery of a man being able to bend any men to fulfill his desires can be extremely damaging to their viewers. To make a change Axe brands need to pursue a personality which will represent their product. Such as the ideal phrase “just like people all brands have personality.” Even though many hygienic companies had made a change to the gender role of products. Some don’t come to realize that just because soaps are targeted towards a certain gender can mean lots of other things as well. For example, most Dove soaps contain chemicals for women to make their hair more soft and healthier. When for men, they don’t need these nutrients for their hair. So, I do believe that there is more reasoning’s for the fact that Men, and women soap are separated from each other. Even though many efforts have been able to be changed through Dove and Axe. I do believe there is many more changes to come.
Axe is mainly geared at a male audience to sell its products. The marketing axe has is vary effective at selling the product. Because it is tridinally bin hard to sell men (perfume) but the way ake markets it does not make it seem like perfume. Ake markets its product as a female magnet and this method is vary appealing to males. This is because what males from age 18 to 25 are mostly concerned with is females. If they can convince males that using axe will help them get women the better their product will sell with men . For some reason other companies are not as successful with it .Axe mostly advertise to straight males u don’t see any gay advertising for axe because that might not be what they are aiming for. However axe is extremely good at what they do and they really don’t have much of a competition. The women in axe commercials are usually extremely sexually objectified however hat might be the point that axe wants to get access to the poetical buyer in order to sell the spry . What ever axe is doing the sells seem to prove that what they are doing is getting though to its audience.
The Axe Company is one of many possessive male companies that portray a more masculine sense using these hygienic products. Axe portrays women as being a brutal, and desperate woman that is existing in the sole purpose of pleasing men. Axe seems to use various Tanique’s not just found in ads but as well, other forms of media such as music videos to sell the product. Some Tanique’s include “sexy” clothing, camera angles, and wet bodies to objectify women as being “sexy “material. Axe commercials, advertisements, and slogans seem to become clear that the repetitive imagery of a man being able to bend any men to fulfill his desires can be extremely damaging to their viewers. To make a change Axe brands need to pursue a personality which will represent their product. Such as the ideal phrase “just like people all brands have personality.” Even though many hygienic companies had made a change to the gender role of products. Some don’t come to realize that just because soaps are targeted towards a certain gender can mean lots of other things as well. For example, most Dove soaps contain chemicals for women to make their hair more soft and healthier. When for men, they don’t need these nutrients for their hair. So, I do believe that there is more reasoning’s for the fact that Men, and women soap are separated from each other. Even though many efforts have been able to be changed through Dove and Axe. I do believe there is many more changes to come.
ReplyDeleteAxe is mainly geared at a male audience to sell its products. The marketing axe has is vary effective at selling the product. Because it is tridinally bin hard to sell men (perfume) but the way ake markets it does not make it seem like perfume. Ake markets its product as a female magnet and this method is vary appealing to males. This is because what males from age 18 to 25 are mostly concerned with is females. If they can convince males that using axe will help them get women the better their product will sell with men . For some reason other companies are not as successful with it .Axe mostly advertise to straight males u don’t see any gay advertising for axe because that might not be what they are aiming for. However axe is extremely good at what they do and they really don’t have much of a competition. The women in axe commercials are usually extremely sexually objectified however hat might be the point that axe wants to get access to the poetical buyer in order to sell the spry . What ever axe is doing the sells seem to prove that what they are doing is getting though to its audience.
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