Axe Deodorant Body-Spray

[Zodiac]

Is it just me, or are these commercials outrageously offensive? Each & every one of them depicts women in such a derogatory manner, it doesn't even approach 'funny'. Would you make out or have sex with a man on account of what brand of cologne he was wearing? Hell no (Or at least, I should hope not)!

The most recent pitch by the good people at Axe includes the new slogan "Show them the way". One commercial starts off with a man preparing himself for a date- He sprays Axe along his arm and on his chest. After that, they cut to a scene with he & his girlfriend sitting in a car. He rests his arm along the back of her seat, she catches the scent, and 'follows' it over to his chest, where she rests her head.

Another ad commences with the scene of an argument- A woman & her boyfriend are fighting in their mobile home. The man living in the next trailer next to theirs hears the fight and assumes that the woman will be exiting her home at any moment. Wanting to get into her pants, he comes out & sprays his Axe around just outside his front door, and waits. As she comes out, he waves some of the scent her way. She stops short, walks towards him, and puts her head on his chest.

I mean, come ON. And I thought the first few Axe commercials (I'm assuming the majority of you have seen them) were bad! These are just plain insulting. I wonder what drives the women in them?

Does anyone else hate the ideas behind these commercials? That a woman can be lured into sex with an aerosol product? I know I do... :flamethrower:

[Electricity]

That is stupid...I actually find all commericials annoying. But when you think about it, arn't men made to look like total dumbasses in most commercials? I saw a commericial for printer ink where a woman sent her husband to the store to buy a few items, and then the camera moved to show a view of the man's shopping list, and it was full color photos of all the things he was supposed to buy. I think that's a bit sexist, to say men are so dumb that they can't even follow a written list.

That said, women are viewed as sex objects too much. And axe stinks really bad. I would not put my head on the chest of a guy who wore axe.

[Zodiac]

That is stupid...I actually find all commericials annoying. But when you think about it, arn't men made to look like total dumbasses in most commercials? I saw a commericial for printer ink where a woman sent her husband to the store to buy a few items, and then the camera moved to show a view of the man's shopping list, and it was full color photos of all the things he was supposed to buy. I think that's a bit sexist, to say men are so dumb that they can't even follow a written list.

You know, you're right. I don't like that either, when I think about it. In a lot of commercials, it's the husband or boyfriend who is portrayed as a total moron. That's as bad as things that portray women in a bad light. It seems as though if it isn't at one extreme, it's at the other. Wouldn't it be nice if all media sexism could be eliminated & people could find a happy medium? It'd be great, but it's not looking likely...

[skeptic320]

I did a rantabout this a while ago, only I was complaining because they made it sound like it was okay to be horrible to women provided you could count on their faithfulness (because, you know, you wear Axe so she would never, ever leave you for another guy (despite the incredible number of guys who wear Axe)).
And then in Media Arts my group did an ad for Axe...although there wasn't any sex involved. It featured a guy writing a test and he didn't know any of the answers, so he sprayed his paper with Axe and handed it in. The next shot is of the teacher marking papers. She goes to give the guy an F, then smells it and gives him an A. It came out pretty well, I thought.

[Checkered Kev]

Your reading into commercials too much. Somebody always looks stupid in a commerical be it male, female, black or white. The point of a commercial is to stick that product in your memory; obviously it worked.

[the_emu_returns]

I don't think of these commercials as particularly harmful. I mean, they are so ridiculous that no one could pretend that the behavior they depict is realistic. These commercials follow the same format as many others (wear this/eat this/use this and the opposite gender will find you attractive), they just take it to an extreme that is supposed to be funny but turns out rather irritating and stupid.

[Checkered Kev]

I just wanted to add
Its just good advertising. I know I dont wear cologne for my benifit...

[Cereal Warrior!]

The only Axe commercial I've seen is the one where there is a pizza guy mannequin that was sprayed with Axe, and two girls are 'groping' the mannequin.
I must say though, the only commercials I seem to remember are ones that poke fun at something/someone. They just seem to stick in my mind. It seems like these kinds will generally work to get your product on the market, even though they could very well be depicting men, women, or both as complete morons.

[you are a dork]

Axe smells like shit. I hate it.

[NUAndrew]

I (as a male) avoid cologne like the plague. It's been my experience that that stuff is far too strong. Not to mention the fact that all the girls I've dated have been repulsed by all but one or two brands. Plus the fact that I'm mildly allergic to it...

That said, I'd rather not go out smelling like cologne - my natural scent isn't nearly as overpowering, and certainly isn't too bad...

It shouldn't smell like an Old Spice truck overturned... I've yet to meet anyone who can apply cologne/perfume well...

And the Ads are sexist, and stupid. Most advertisements are. There's a reason that the only TV show I watch is Jeopardy - all I have to sit through is advertisments for a variety of heartburn/constipation remedies (yet none so far that cures both). It's nice not being in the demographic that a show is aimed at...I love it!

[Zodiac]

Axe smells like shit. I hate it.

...Maybe that's why they need such stupid commercials...

[sayra_eden]

It shouldn't smell like an Old Spice truck overturned... I've yet to meet anyone who can apply cologne/perfume well...

I have. And I (as a female) think that the right cologne applied well can be one of the sexiest things ever.

But that's not what this was about...
I haven't seen any of the commercials mentioned; I don't generally watch TV. But, as a few people pointed out, the point of a commercial is to make a product stick in your mind. Obviously, it worked.

Personally, I hate Yellow Cabs. You know...the ones that aren't yellow? But that's their form of adverstisement. When I think of taxis, I think of the stupid ones that lie about what color they are.

I also think Axe smells pretty good. But I prefer Curve.

[underpressure]

Sex sells. Convincing men sex sells= lots of money.

Romance by Ralph Lauren does have an impact on womyn.

[DudeMan101]

...womyn.

People like you helped make english extrodinarily difficult for non-native speakers to learn fluently, and for native speakers trying to master the convulted mess of roots and grammer that English is. Have you no soul?!?!?

If a man was scented with an extreemly potent aphrodisiatic pharemone, these situations aren't very far-fetched. If the body registers something that powerful, it and the subconcious mind will make their best possible efforts to get you into his pants. Such pharamons basicly trigger the brain to release mind-altering drugs. Since humans in general are so weak-willed (an attribute counteracted only by the unreasonable social stigma on sex), it coudl work wonders on the right people.

However, Axe is not that powerful.

So the commercials are stupid and sexist.

[AwkwardPenguin]

Any Australians here will know of the Lynx ads and "the lynx effect". Yes they're crappy, and sometimes degrading, but i think they're really funny, the first few times.
Well they're really not that degrading, the guy puts on the lynx, hence starting "the lynx effect" goes out and does something funny/embarrassing/stupid and the girls fall for him and look very suggestive.

But i liked the elevator ads-
Man walks into Elevator, sprays on lynx, puts on jacket.
Stuffy (yet wildly sexy) business woman walks in, you see her lick her lips then lunge on the man as the doors close.
Doors open, you see the man looking very rumpled and the sexy lady walks out licking her lips.
That was Ad #1 which they showed like a million times then they started showing new ones.
Sexy Woman walks out and in walks:
Very big obviously gay man
75 year old lady
A very very ugly woman.
Each time they lick their lips and lunge on the man as the doors close, the man looks horrified.
Nothing Stops The Lynx Effect


When you feel degraded by these sort of ads, just think about the sad sad lonely boy who thinks that wearing lynx will help him score. That's sad.


And some of those boys are in my class, who always insist on applying their lynx after lunch in the classroom, comparing their Lynx Voodoo, to another boys Lynx Ice. I personally think it smells really bad and stick to my Stitch Number 12. But i know some girls who are really sporty and they wear Lynx, because they think it smells nice and its a good anti-perspirant. Which is all very cool and they apply it in the P.E room or the toilets out of neccessity, not to "start the lynx effect"

[yellow]

all this is marketing, as i've learnt last year. the main point is to get your product across to the viewers so they'll remember the brand name and buy your product. thus the reason why commercials have to be cool, funny or stupid etc. to catch our attention.

however, i don't like the stereotypes and sometimes bad portrayals of men and women in commercials sometimes. it just adds to the stereotypes. granted, such commercials can be offensive but they're going to be around so maybe we should just laugh at it and boycott the product.

[PurplePhoenix]

Axe does smell extremely horrible- so bad, in fact, it gave a boy in my school an asthma attack last schoolyear. The commercials are degrading, and I hate commercials like that. I'd also like to point out that commercials where women are degraded are much more common than commercials where men are degraded and have been around a lot longer.

Axe is constantly sprayed in the halls at my school and I have yet to see one girl not cover her nose and run through the spray horrified. Not to mention, Axe isn't supposed to be in our school anyways, so if a guy is caught at school with Axe, he's politely asked to take it home. But they never do

[Checkered Kev]

But I prefer Curve.

Ill vouch for that.....

[Eravial]

This is (almost) completely off-topic. One company for women's deoderant had a commercial where the slogan was "Strong enough for a man, but made for a woman." I got extremely angry when I saw that the first time.
[/off-topicness]

I have only seen one of the described ads, but they all sound extremely degrading. Good advertising, bad image. Sometimes kids at my school will spray the stuff in the halls in VERY large quantities. Large stimulant of allergies, I might add. Idiotic.

[deanimal]

This is (almost) completely off-topic. One company for women's deoderant had a commercial where the slogan was "Strong enough for a man, but made for a woman." I got extremely angry when I saw that the first time.
[/off-topicness]

I think they're trying to see if somehow they can convince males to use it too. Now they have ones that just say "Strong enough for a woman."

[Green Giant Reincarnate]

Its lame but its not worth complaining about.

Marketing will never stop making women look like sex objects and men look like buffoons. Its what sells and thats all that counts to them.

What does annoy me is when some women claim that there is a double standard when men and women are offended in quite an equal fashion.

[lockdown]

It is lame. What's worse is when everyone at my cadet squadron - most of us go to single sex schools and this is one of the few times in the week we actually get to see members of the opposite sex - wear huge amounts of Lynx or Axe. It's suffocating and not attractive at all.
Then again, there are guys there that wear small amounts of really good cologne and they're the ones that are considered the most attractive. The ones that shower in the stuff are often desperate or viewed as desperate. It's probably the effects of these adverts that encourage them to do this and because both genders are exposed to the adverts, the more you wear, the more desperate to pull you will seem.
So, in some ways the adverts give out the opposite impression - you will be considered desperate if you wear this deodorant.

[Checkered Kev]

Id like to point out the suntan lotion commercial that focuses on women and skin cancer. Not single man is mentioned in statistics or shown in the commercial...........

Now I know men get sun cancer.........

*now isnt that a silly thing to point out?* *yes it is; just as silly as the axe commercial*

[sayra_eden]

This is (almost) completely off-topic. One company for women's deoderant had a commercial where the slogan was "Strong enough for a man, but made for a woman." I got extremely angry when I saw that the first time.
[/off-topicness]

I think they're trying to see if somehow they can convince males to use it too. Now they have ones that just say "Strong enough for a woman."

I'm pretty sure it says "Strong enough for a man..." because males generally sweat more, so they would need a stronger deoderant. I don't find that degrading at all; it's just a fact of life.

[Checkered Kev]

"I'm pretty sure it says "Strong enough for a man..." because males generally sweat more, so they would need a stronger deoderant. I don't find that degrading at all; it's just a fact of life."
Yes thats true....Most guys sweat alot....hell I sweat when its cold;when evryone else has coats on and Im in a t-shirt....