Photo: Kevin Minnis
All this time I thought the the lady Lynx was Impulse body spray. Turns out I was wrong, and Axe (as it is called outside the UK) is releasing a female fragrance called Anarchy. Because that is what it will be like. Once women and girls start using Axe body spray.
Ladies, you might as well start chowing down on Yorkies and guzzling Dr Pepper because the worst has happened and everything’s now for girls. Anarchy in the UK! Or the axilla.
In fact Anarchy will only be released as a limited edition scent and only, it seems, in the US. So technically it is Unilever controlled anarchy in the USA for a short time period.
Ladies, you might as well start chowing down on Yorkies and guzzling Dr Pepper because the worst has happened and everything’s now for girls. Anarchy in the UK! Or the axilla.
In fact Anarchy will only be released as a limited edition scent and only, it seems, in the US. So technically it is Unilever controlled anarchy in the USA for a short time period.
How will this new Lady Axe be advertised? Usually Axe adverts feature the product being liberally sprayed all over the body of an average Joe, just an ordinary guy who happens to smell so great models and angels fall at his feet.
Of course the joke is Axe is a boy’s body spray. In the pursuit of verisimilitude Axe could advertise under the slogan ‘The scent of P.E’ or ‘The scent of peculiarly crisp shirts in that bright blue no one else wears but pubescent boys.’ I’m not in advertising, but I’d go with the former.
In real life the women featured in the usual Lynx/Axe adverts tend not to be overpowered by a whiff of Lynx, or not in the way boys hope anyway.
Of course the joke is Axe is a boy’s body spray. In the pursuit of verisimilitude Axe could advertise under the slogan ‘The scent of P.E’ or ‘The scent of peculiarly crisp shirts in that bright blue no one else wears but pubescent boys.’ I’m not in advertising, but I’d go with the former.
In real life the women featured in the usual Lynx/Axe adverts tend not to be overpowered by a whiff of Lynx, or not in the way boys hope anyway.
Has Axe Anarchy chosen to flip the roles, use an average looking girl who happens to smell so anarchic that models and hot Occupy guys fall at her feet in their adverts? Short answer: No. Instead Axe advertising is dallying with the mad advertising idea of hot girl meets hot guy who have eyes only for each other. |
Why? David Kolbusz, the creative director behind the Axe Anarchy ads explains: “Girls in Axe advertising will always be a little better-looking than the guys, but the question is to what degree. The guys can look a little more aspirational in the lead roles without the average guy feeling threatened.”
‘Twas ever thus.
Wait, isn’t this supposed to be an ad for women? Why is it that in an advert for men the woman featured must be more attractive than the man? But in an advert for women… oh wait, lather, rinse, repeat. No ad exec is worried about women feeling threatened by models shilling their products, because that’s just setting the bar. We have to look like that if we want to seduce… Joe Bloggs.
Considering how Unilever’s other brand Dove has captured the public’s imagination with its Campaign for real beauty you would think they might apply the same thought to Axe Anarchy. Or at least maintain some kind of continuity in Axe advertising.
I am more than happy for Axe to carry on their usual insinuated message of, ‘just because you’re ordinary doesn’t mean you can’t maintain basic standards of hygiene and get laid’. Because you know what the frightening thing about that is?
It would turn advertising on its head.
Squeamish Kate
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Smells like Obscene Spirit
‘Twas ever thus.
Wait, isn’t this supposed to be an ad for women? Why is it that in an advert for men the woman featured must be more attractive than the man? But in an advert for women… oh wait, lather, rinse, repeat. No ad exec is worried about women feeling threatened by models shilling their products, because that’s just setting the bar. We have to look like that if we want to seduce… Joe Bloggs.
Considering how Unilever’s other brand Dove has captured the public’s imagination with its Campaign for real beauty you would think they might apply the same thought to Axe Anarchy. Or at least maintain some kind of continuity in Axe advertising.
I am more than happy for Axe to carry on their usual insinuated message of, ‘just because you’re ordinary doesn’t mean you can’t maintain basic standards of hygiene and get laid’. Because you know what the frightening thing about that is?
It would turn advertising on its head.
Squeamish Kate
Related Posts
Smells like Obscene Spirit
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