Axe encouraging sex in the snow this winter

BBH London counsels guys to "be prepared this festive season" and to carry their Lynx (Axe) Bullet portable body spray with them, because you never know where spontaneous sex might occur. The three ads in the series seem a bit menacing, though, with the dark alleys and lonely frozen roads evoking non-consensual encounters. Maybe the ladies should carry a different kind of spray. (As Adland points out, Old Spice Red Zone did a similar though more angelic ad several years ago.) Of course, even if both participants are willing, they'll catch colds at the very least. My advice: If you must behave this way, keep the mittens on. Via Ads of the World. UPDATE: In comments, Steve notes that BBH has manufactured a personal alarm for women through its Zag product-development unit. The ila Dusk, "emits a piercing, high-decibel female scream designed to shock and disorientate an attacker." The perfect defense against Axe-toting lunkheads. Nice synergy, BBH!

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Published on November 30, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (11)
Filed under Axe, BBH, Europe, Gianatasio, Personal care

Axe has street musicians singing its praises

Axe sought out 20 street musicians and bands by way of MySpace and Craigslist and offered them $1,000 each to put out "Axe Instinct" signs and deodorant samples and sing "Look Good in Leather" a couple of times a day. The New York Times has the scoop on a Penn Station musician named Luke Ryan, above, who's part of the program. It's kind of a bittersweet tale, as Ryan, who seems like a good guy, used to swear he'd never sell out like this. But from Axe's point of view, if you've got your ad in Penn Station from September through December for only a thousand bucks—and it sings!—I say you've made an excellent media buy (not to mention that sweet Times article you got out of it). I've never associated deodorant with street musicians before, but I'm definitely an advocate. More important, I'm an advocate of any Axe marketing that doesn't depict women as pairs of breasts hypnotically jiggling in slow motion, cannibalistic chocoholics or out-of-control succubae capable of riding that mustache right off your face.

—Posted by Rebecca Cullers

Previously on AdFreak:
Axe knows leather's steamy in summer
Is the Axe Effect site a pointless 'wankfest'?
Axe imitators don't always smell quite right

Published on November 3, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (4)
Filed under Axe, Cullers, Personal care

Axe knows leather's steamy in summer

Some of the details provided in the promotional materials from production house Blacklist about the making of the Axe Instinct writhing-leather-figures spot shown below are hotter than the actual commercial. Example: "We began this project with a photo shoot with real actors and the leather laid out on a flat bed. We took moving references with naked models to show how the body moves and the leather reacts." A client budget well spent. Here's more: "We were very lucky to have a great photo model strip off and go through the timings and poses." Yes, lucky indeed, Blacklist. Finally: "Animation and simulation followed...to make everything come together." Sigh—I really should've gone into commercial production. Right now, I think I'll take a cold shower; leather makes everything so hot and sweaty this time of year.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Published on July 9, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (1)
Filed under Axe, Blacklist, Gianatasio

Is the Axe Effect site a pointless 'wankfest'?

And now it's Axe's turn. It, too, is dipping into the Modernista! school of Web marketing with an "Axe Effect" site. Technically, it's not an un-site, but it follows the same theme set by Modernista! and subsequently imitated by Skittles: Let others define your brand. The Axe Effect links out to Wikipedia, YouTube, StumbleUpon, Facebook, Drugstore.com and few Axe microsites in an attempt at a new take on the brand microsite. (Axe eschews the wild world of Twitter, which caused Skittles some mild consternation after pranksters thrilled in posting about how they were placing the candies in various orifices.) Will Axe's site work? Count Wieden + Kennedy global director of digital strategies Renny Gleesen in the not-very-impressed camp. "The only folks I don't see deriving ANY benefit out of this 2.0 wankfest are normal people," he writes in a blog post with the refreshingly direct title "Brands go web 2.0. Give me a F---ing break." What's your opinion of the latest attempt to weave the social Web into the brand site?

—Posted by Brian Morrissey

Published on April 2, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (9)
Filed under Agency web sites, Axe, Microsites, Morrissey, Personal care

Axe wrangles up 100 girls to judge your hair

Hey fellas, ever wanted a room full of women focused on critiquing your personal appearance? Yeah, me either. That's why I decided to upload a picture of Minneapolis marketing icon Tim Brunelle to the new Axe 100 Girls site, which supposedly shows if your hair is "girl-approved." The faux Web cam is part of the Axe Hair Crisis Relief campaign, which recently hurled a pig and a bucket of water at an unfortunate young man. Tim may have been spared a pig attack, but his hair still only mustered a 40% approval rating. (You can watch the verdict get handed down.) To Tim's credit, I'm guessing he would have been pushing 95% if the women were allowed to vote on his ascot.

—Posted by David Griner

Published on February 19, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (11)
Filed under Axe, Griner, Hair care

Being dressed by animals is always sketchy

This Axe spot from Argentina represents a rare moment of clarity from the deodorant brand, as it deconstructs the Disney trope of being dressed by animals. That men wouldn't dig this is a given, but I'm not sure women would like it much, either. Animals poop more or less constantly, and there are other sanitary issues with them carrying your clothes in their mouths. But since the guy in this ad wants chicks in bunny and fox masks soaping him up, his tastes are unconventional to begin with. Via Brentter and others.

—Posted by David Kiefaber

Published on September 10, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (1)
Filed under Axe, Kiefaber, Personal care