The Axe Effect
This print ad for Axe body spray was brought to my attention today, and I thought it might be time to comment on Axe’s advertising which is– surprisingly, clever. Of all the body sprays, deoderants, and male cleansing products, Axe undoubtedly holds a place in the market as one of the most frequently advertised. Their variety of ads span back through a number of campaigns– most of which objectify women in some way. Some of the ads are simply composed of half-naked females oggling over a male (who is, of course, wearing Axe). Other ads highlight a number of things that men “want” from women (ie: “OK, i’ll get back into bed with you, but i’m not taking off my heels,” or “I threw away all the porn under your bed, and got you new porn”…And more things that men ‘want’ from their girlfriends). I find this nun ad to be the most clever, because it is a more subtle way of saying that women will be turned on by how good you smell.
And then there is of course the infamous Bow-Chick-A-Wow-Wow commercial, which is super funny and entertaining.
It is amazing to recognize that it doesn’t matter how insignificant or trivial the product; with the right advertising, campaigns can explode with cleverness and wit!
I used this ad way back for some media and society presentation. My hook was that “nobody is safe from suggestive advertising.” If I had to put some copy on it I’d say, “Let he who is without scent cast the first stone.”