The Real Axe Effect
1
Katie McCubbord
9/24/12
English 1000
J. Bowers
The Real Axe Effect
Most of us know what the brand Axe is. A men’s line of cologne, deodorant, body wash; basically anything to get them laid, right? Well, with the image Axe brand tries to project, yes. Without their sex-driven commercials and ads, Axe would be just another men’s care line in the local Wal-Mart. It is one of countless companies that use sex to appeal to gain their audience. Try to get your hands on an Axe ad that doesn’t have to do with sex or nearly naked women— pretty much impossible. Axe uses sex appeal to hook the male audience, whether they realize it or not, and sneakily make them loyal consumers to the company. The commercials and ads are comical to most people, which makes it difficult for them to see what the company is really saying through their humor. Axe uses sex appeal to sell their products, however, the use of sex in Axe ads is often based on sexist stereotypes about men and women, and furthermore, the company uses humor to hide their sexist agenda. Once thought about completely, Axe brand ads do seem to be very sexist. One commercial, in particular, has a model of a woman’s chest along with a model of a man’s head of hair, completely removed from the rest of his normal human body. The disembodied parts have feet and walk around an office setting doing daily jobs in the office while noticing one another. In the background there is a song playing
2
about true love. At first, it is very unclear what the purpose of the commercial is, but at the end, a bus passes, and the chest turns into a woman, and the hair turns into a man. As they look at each other
Katie McCubbord
9/24/12
English 1000
J. Bowers
The Real Axe Effect
Most of us know what the brand Axe is. A men’s line of cologne, deodorant, body wash; basically anything to get them laid, right? Well, with the image Axe brand tries to project, yes. Without their sex-driven commercials and ads, Axe would be just another men’s care line in the local Wal-Mart. It is one of countless companies that use sex to appeal to gain their audience. Try to get your hands on an Axe ad that doesn’t have to do with sex or nearly naked women— pretty much impossible. Axe uses sex appeal to hook the male audience, whether they realize it or not, and sneakily make them loyal consumers to the company. The commercials and ads are comical to most people, which makes it difficult for them to see what the company is really saying through their humor. Axe uses sex appeal to sell their products, however, the use of sex in Axe ads is often based on sexist stereotypes about men and women, and furthermore, the company uses humor to hide their sexist agenda. Once thought about completely, Axe brand ads do seem to be very sexist. One commercial, in particular, has a model of a woman’s chest along with a model of a man’s head of hair, completely removed from the rest of his normal human body. The disembodied parts have feet and walk around an office setting doing daily jobs in the office while noticing one another. In the background there is a song playing
2
about true love. At first, it is very unclear what the purpose of the commercial is, but at the end, a bus passes, and the chest turns into a woman, and the hair turns into a man. As they look at each other
Cited: Axe Hair “Office love” [online] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvX71ZbTk-E 8/20/12 Shin, Dongmin. “Axe: Revolving Doors” [online] http://adsoftheworld.com/media/outdoor/axe_revolving_doors “American Advertising: A Brief History” [online] http://historymatters.gmu.edu/mse/ads/amadv.html