So I was using Axe’s Skin Contact body wash scrub, which oddly enough is a decent body wash product, when I noticed the brief blurb on the back of the bottle.
The back of the Axe Skin Contact bottle claims that you’ll get smooth skin that she won’t be able to resist and that she’ll want to touch you all over. Something along those lines. Now we all know that ‘the axe effect’ is a quite successful marketing ploy for Unilever’s line of Axe body products. They started out with body sprays and now make everything from Axe bodywashes to Axe hair shampoo. They also make deodorant and mini body shot sprays.
All of their products and commercials for the products talk about how women will flock to you when you wear Axe body spray. All of the commercials and ads feature beautiful women that apparently won’t be able to resist you when you wear Axe products. The Axe website even offers guides and advice on how to reduce fivesomes to threesomes, how to sneak out the next morning, how to handle triplets in bed, and more stuff clearly targeted to men who are apparently being overwhelmed with swarms of women for wearing Axe.
I’m sure some of you love Axe products, their sprays when used in moderation can actually smell nice and their new Skin Contact body scrubs actually do make your skin a bit smoother and smell decent.
I’m also positive that a lot of you hate Axe, hate the marketing, and may even think it is degrading that Unilever and Axe glamorize sleeping around and reduce woman’s sexual appetites to simply ravaging any guy wearing the product.
But this article isn’t about how great Axe smells or how sexist or pointless the Axe marketing might be. This article is about how Unilever when promoting Axe seems to be saying that The Axe Effect only works for straight men and only attracts females. The marketing and the wording on their products suggest that only women will enjoy the scent of Axe and that in essence only straight men will use Axe.
You might be thinking that many female products and bodywashes are only marketed to women. And you are probably right. There are hundreds of body washes made and marketing solely to women. And for men there are plenty of body washes and sprays marketed simply to them. But here is the thing; when is the last time you saw a body spray or body wash explicitly marketed to women to ‘seduce’ tons of men around them? I can picture a few readers having that ‘ah ha’ moment when the double standard comes to mind, but that is for another article eventually.
I found it unusual that Axe’s ‘unique’ marketing about how irresistible Axe will make a man to a woman is completely focused on heterosexual males trying to get intimate with heterosexual females. Again there are body washes and sprays directed just toward men, but with the exception of Old Spice body spray and washes about 95% of the body washes and male shower products out there are directed to men in general, not just heterosexual men. Basically both Old Spice and Axe heavily market to young men with the idea that their products leave women hot and heavy for those wearing the product.
I went to Axe’s official website to get some insight on the situation. I found a FAQ section where a ‘common’ question was asked about having one’s girlfriend wear Axe to attract more women for the man to enjoy at once. The response was that Axe only seems to have an effect for men wearing it, and women wearing it won’t attract more women. Does that mean that a gay man wearing Axe won’t attract anyone?
I looked further into it and found that a study in the UK was conducted where men were sprayed either with Axe body spray or a regular deodorant spray. The men wearing AXE were seen as more sexually attractive and appealing to women viewing the men on videotape.
So they didn’t actually smell the men. When surveyed the men wearing AXE said they felt more confident wearing Axe and as such the researchers concluded that the confidence boost must have carried over into their presentation to women on video.
But again what about gay men wearing Axe?
A friend stated to me that perhaps Unilever considered marketing Axe to gays but then what about the heterosexual males who are homophobic. If these homophobic straight men started using Axe to attract women and then suddenly Axe became widely used by homosexual men, they might stop using Axe for fear of attracting gay men to them.
Come to think of it, there aren’t many mainstream products marketed even somewhat to gays. You may remember the recent lawsuit against dating site eHarmony.com which is apparently a Christian based dating site. The lawsuit claimed that eHarmony only promoted heterosexual relationships and only allowed heterosexual users on the site.
They lost and now offer the eHarmony service to gays, but when is the last time you’ve seen a gay couple on their commercials or in ads, happy because they’ve found each other on E-Harmony?
How does this relate to Axe and it’s ‘effect’ only being promoted as working for straight men to attract straight women?
Most bodywashes marketed to men claim to clean you up and leave you smelling great. Old Spice uses attractive women in commercials and hints that it is for heterosexual men. But only Axe explicitly positions Axe products as a body spray and body wash product only for men seeking to attract women.
Look at the packaging, look at the commercials and print ads. You’ll see and hear phrases such as ‘she won’t be able to resist’ and ‘women will be falling for you’. Axe promotion also heavily suggests that you will get laid if you use their product, but instead of just leaving it at that, the suggestion is that you’ll get laid only with women.
If you search the internet you’ll come across parodies of Axe commercials that portray Axe for gays. You’ll find Axe’s website openly promoting no strings attached sex, if your a man who happens to like women.
So why can’t Axe be irresistible to any person that finds the one wearing Axe to be irresistible? Was it careful product research by Unilever that suggested that gay men were less likely to buy a product that promises such sexual success? Or are the makers of Axe afraid that marketing Axe to men in general will open up a can of worms in which homophobic users ditch the product and conservative groups attack Unilever for promoting sexual activity between any two people, mainly gay couples?
I also wonder if gay men purchase Axe anyways or if any feel ostracized by Axe marketing; wanting to buy the product but feeling like it isn’t ‘for them’. I’m sure the smell of Axe products is enjoyed by all kinds of people, but if the packaging keeps driving home the point that only women will like it on a straight man, what is the message being sent to younger gay men?
I’m a heterosexual male and am comfortable with my sexuality as a straight guy. I’ve never understood what the big deal is about gay marriage or all these people getting up in arms over homosexual relationships.
It just seems odd that Axe is marketed explicitly to a niche market of young men who like to play the field. Their products aren’t actually that bad, and niche marketing can do wonders for the bottom line. But when most body spray and body wash companies are marketing to one gender or the other, you have to wonder why Axe chose only to market to one group with a sexual preference for only women.
I’ll say it again; Axe is a decent product and some of their scents and body washes do smell good. I don’t use Axe to attract droves of women; I use Axe body wash because it cleans and makes me smell decent.
Look around. eHarmony was sued until it started offering services for gays yet you don’t see much promotion about it. Many mainstream products are marketed to both genders or just one gender with no explicit image that it is only for heterosexuals. Sure some products may use attractive women to market everything from cars to clothes, but they also use attractive men to do so.
Will Unilever get sued for marketing Axe to heterosexual males who only want to sleep with women? Probably not. Some people will chalk it up to Axe being marketed to a niche market; young men who want women; but sex, love, and being attracted to another person happens no matter if you are straight, bisexual, or gay.
What is your take on this Axe debate? Feel free to leave feedback and comments in the comment section below this article.
