It's time for that semi-regular feature where I complain about Axe advertising campaigns. Reader Juniper alerts us to the fact that, in the latest series of ads for this disgusting cologne for the desperate, Unilever is clearly making light of hilarious issues like rape, sexual harassment, and stalking. The premise: Women are becoming sexual predators when they get a whiff of Axe. This video (sorry, it's in Spanish -- only one I could find) should give you the gist:
Ah, but as with all Axe campaigns, the actual ads aren't the worst of it -- it's the companion websites that are truly wretched. In this case, the site contains lots of cheeky faux headlines urging men to not walk alone at night (ha! get it? the threat of street harassment and sexual assault is hilarious when the genders are reversed! ugh), or making light of police abuse (hysterical!). The whole campaign is hinged on the idea that intimate-partner violence against men is not only a-OK, but completely desirable. Revolting. (Yes, I know they're just stupid ads and that this Unilever's way of appealing to a certain subset of male consumers. It's still not funny.) Plus the site's whole "naughty to nice" feature, which has yet to be launched, promises more clueless exaggerations of the virgin/whore dichotomy than you can possibly handle.
I feel like this would make a far more appropriate Axe ad:
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It's weird; when you wear a visor normally, you speak normally. When you start turning it 90 degrees away from where it was intended, it acts like a douchebaggery level adjuster. If you've got lots of mousse in your hair, your douchebaggery level can actually go to 11.
That spoof commercial is so spot-on it's almost scary.
I first saw that Axe ad at the movies before seeing The Simpsons movie. I'm completely against showing commericals at the movies. That's what I left home for, right. Besides, I enjoyed playing the movie trivia games. Anyway, I don't see the point in those ads at all. They're not funny. Plus, I think they should be sued for false advertisement. My brother has the Axe body wash. The first time he used it, the smell drifted from the upstairs bathroom to the living room, and I almost passed out. That shit smells nasty. In a way, though, I think the ads and Axe's disgusting smell is helpful in weeding out the asshats. Axe can be smelled from the club while you're still in the parking lot, so you can go somewhere else before you fall victim of douchebagery.
How did you stop yourself from jumping his bones, FEMily?
watching that video has inspired me to de-pop collars in frat bars everywhere... if i can make it through the door without roundhousing someone in the jaw :)
You're right, this ad campaign communicates that using this product will cause the women to pay more attention to you, so much so that they will commit acts of violence against you.
It strikes me that a role reversal might be commercials for low cut dresses, mini-skirts or string bikini's focusing on how they may engender violent behavior in men.
Of course while these commercials are ludicrous, commercials for the reverse strike too close to truth. Maybe this farce is commentary in disguise, or maybe its happenstance that this depiction of women's violence against men so closely parallels the realities of mens violence against women.
I am in no way justifying sexual predators, but I do believe that predatory behavior in men can be directly related the way that a woman presents herself. This doesn't justify their behavior, but does provide cultural food for thought.
The spoof is brilliant. THANK YOU for posting that!
Stocad, where to begin? I assume you are not a woman. Why? Because every woman I know (and every woman who commented on Feministing's thread about sexual street harassment) has been harassed at least once by a man or group of men - while dressed in a sweatshirt and jeans.
I don't have to justify my clothing choices to you, but men cat-call me while I'm DRIVING. Yeah. Men driving in other cars. On the highway. I have been harassed while wearing a business suit, jogging pants, a puffy winter coat and a 2003 Honda Civic.
I am not unique. If you really believe women are usually harassed when wearing bikinis (just walking around town in a bikini?), you need to get out more. Or you need to listen to women when they talk about their experiences.
The main characteristic men look for when harassing or preying upon women is the possession of a vagina.
Man, I just may have to show that spoof to my college students. I've had to make "joking" requests that they not douse themselves in Axe before conferences, because my office ends up reeking for days. Gross.
Ancrene: By spoof, do you mean the second video or the comment by stocad?
I heart you, SarahMC.
Stocad, victim-blaming isn't "cultural food for thought." It's just fucked up.
Do you think that only women who "present themselves" in certain ways get attacked?
If I may quote the brilliant Shakes:
If only women who "present themselves" in skimpy clothing get harassed, preyed upon and/or sexually assaulted, then it would follow that women living in cold climates would be blissfully harassment-free! Same goes for women who have to wear burquas 24/7. [FYI: men rape them too]
"I am in no way justifying sexual predators, but I do believe that predatory behavior in men can be directly related the way that a woman presents herself. This doesn't justify their behavior, but does provide cultural food for thought."
Then "men" should be locked up away from society until they can learn not sexually harrass/assault/rape women and regarding them as prey. I manage to control myself around men no matter their dress or how they present themselves, I expect no less from them.
The commercials and the website are as disgusting as Axe smells.
That shit smells nasty.
Yeah, and honestly? My teenage brother has told me that none of his friends would go within ten feet of the stuff. As far as their social circle is concerned, "Only desperate middle school guys use it - it's totally disgusting."
that should say:
"and not regard them as prey"
The best part of the commercial is that sexual assault isn't just funny, it's a wildly positive thing. "Don't you want to get raped by women? Women love it when you do it to them!"
It also really disappoints me that Axe somehow roped Morgan Freeman into starring in this offensive crap. Is he really that desperate for cash?
It's weird, because I actually love the way Axe smells, even if the commercials are disgusting.
Oh, and the dudes in the spoof video were spot-on representations of some of the jerks who went to my high school--they'd literally talk like the guys in Scarface during math class. I wanted to shout at them: "You're rich boys from suburban Ohio, stop trying to act cool!"
One thing I LOVED about my ex is that he refused to wear Axe and thought it smelled douchey. My current boyfriend loves wearing it and says that women's deodorant smells to. I haven't quite figured out how to nag him into not wearing it, but I think it's something I may have to live with to be happy with my otherwise feminist future stay-at-home-dad boyfriend. Or I could just ask him to move in and then start doing ALL the shopping ever.
I especially loved the notion that how women dress causes rape was supposedly "cultural food for thought." Like that line of thinking is novel or something. Seriously, when are these asshats going to get some new material?
I'm surpised that you're taking a masculinst position on this, and not condoning it becuase it's not in the reverse. I agree with you, axe is a smelly musky spray. I don't wear it, but I do use the deoderent. The advertising is all bullshit becuase women are turned off by the scent of axe. Honestly, it is misleading that they would lure men to wearing their noxious body spray in the hopes of women coming after them. I've tried it and it doesn't work. So, they should pull their disingenuous campaign.
I'm surpised that you're taking a masculinst position on this, and not condoning it becuase it's not in the reverse. I agree with you, axe is a smelly musky spray. I don't wear it, but I do use the deoderent. The advertising is all bullshit becuase women are turned off by the scent of axe. Honestly, it is misleading that they would lure men to wearing their noxious body spray in the hopes of women coming after them. I've tried it and it doesn't work. So, they should pull their disingenuous campaign.
That commercial is a little disturbing, but I wouldn't be surprised if it had as much to do with being Spanish as with being an Axe ad (many European countries are surprising regressive on gender issues).
How is the Feministing stance a "masculinist" stance? What does that even mean? It's "feminist" to oppose sexual assault of all kinds. IMO, it sounds like you're making a reference to strawfeminism, which we don't practice here.
Superdeluxe.com is freak'in hilarious.
I don't think that was actually Morgan Freeman....
Marcus - I live in New Zealand, and that exact same ad runs here, but not in Spanish, of course.
Also, the product range is called "Lynx" not "Axe". But it is excatly the same ad, Morgan Freeman and all.
And yes, Lynx is just as disgusting and teenage-boy-popular here as Axe sounds like it is there.
Also, Stocad, STFU.
What's funny is that apparently plenty of men are suckered in by the whole "attractive pheremones" bullshit. There is no scent in the world that will cause a woman to get all horny for you.
Except for the scent of Chocolate Chip cookies you made yourself for her. That works every time. It's just hard to wear to a club.
Thanks for the links to those tie-in websites, I'll be taking printouts to my concept development class as an example of a shitty advertising concept.
"....but I do believe that predatory behavior in men can be directly related the way that a woman presents herself. This doesn't justify their behavior, but does provide cultural food for thought."
Stocad, you don't know what the hell you're talking about!!!
Violence against women doesn't have anything to do with the kind of clothes women are wearing - hell, they have rapes in Iraq, and women wear headscarves, veils and head-to-toe robes there!!!
"....but I do believe that predatory behavior in men can be directly related the way that a woman presents herself. This doesn't justify their behavior, but does provide cultural food for thought."
Stocad, you don't know what the hell you're talking about!!!
Violence against women doesn't have anything to do with the kind of clothes women are wearing - hell, they have rapes in Iraq, and women wear headscarves, veils and head-to-toe robes there!!!
"....but I do believe that predatory behavior in men can be directly related the way that a woman presents herself. This doesn't justify their behavior, but does provide cultural food for thought."
Stocad, you don't know what the hell you're talking about!!!
Violence against women doesn't have anything to do with the kind of clothes women are wearing - hell, they have rapes in Iraq, and women wear headscarves, veils and head-to-toe robes there!!!
Interesting how these amazing colognes only seem to attract "traditionally beautiful" women. So not only are women being portrayed as whorish nymphos on the basis of a smell, the ads also send the standard "no fatties" message as well. I thought the American ads were bad, but the Spanish language version brings a whole new level of violence to it that's atrocious.
@Blitzgal
Good point. I think people would find the idea of a "women rape me" spray less appealing if it attracted an ugly, overweight, 50-year-old woman.
Of course, at that point it'd still be run as a joke, 'cause rape is still funny when it's not happening to a woman.
That ad plays in New Zealand with an English voice over. I've long since written off Lynx ads (that's the brand name the stuff goes by here). Then I caught this one a couple of nights ago. It's excruciatingly painful to watch.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=vgxxAwue7Fs