Axe (deodorant)

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Various Axe/Lynx products
Various Axe/Lynx products

Axe, or Lynx (see below), is a Unilever-owned brand of men's deodorant, body spray.

Currently there are thirteen fragrances available (listed below). In the Americas, Canada, India, South Asia and mainland Europe, this product is sold as Axe. In Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, and the United Kingdom it is sold as Lynx. In South Africa it was sold as Ego until 2002. In Uruguay it was sold as Lynx until 2004.

The TV advertisements have portrayed the deodorant as a powerful attractant to women (the so-called Axe effect or Lynx effect), and claimed that the deodorant lasts for 24 hours. On all Axe (but not Lynx) deodorant packages, it is, however, stated not to use the deodorant for intimacy.

Contents

[edit] History

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Axe was first launched in South Africa in 1974 under the brand name 'Ego' by Unilever. Following its success there, it was launched in France as Axe in 1983 (where it later became the most popular deodorant) and was then made available worldwide. In 2002, Ego was renamed to Axe in South Africa as part of Unilever’s efforts to globalize and consolidate their various brands.

[edit] In the UK

Axe was first launched in the United Kingdom under the name "Lynx" by Elida Gibbs Ltd. in 1985. It was the first body spray to be released as a stand alone product, rather than part of a larger range.

Initially it was available in three fragrances: - "Amber", "Musk" and "Spice". In 1987 this was extended to include the fragrance "Orient".

In 1988 shower gels were introduced to match the four fragrances of the body sprays. These were promoted by giving away free sample mini-packs of the shower gel with the deodorant.

In 1989 a new fragrance called "Marine" was released. In the same year, an aftershave was launched.

[edit] Competitors

Several competitors exist in the marketplace: TAG Body Spray [1], Old Spice Red Zone [2] and RGX Bodyspray from Right Guard [3].

[edit] List of available fragrances

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In the US Market, there are currently 15 fragrances available in the Axe deodorant line excluding some limited editions:

  • Alaska
  • Apollo
  • Atlantic
  • Clix
  • Conviction
  • Enygmata
  • Essence
  • Groove
  • Kilo
  • Marine
  • Musk
  • Orion
  • Phoenix
  • Pulse
  • Touch
  • Tsunami
  • Unlimited
  • Vice
  • Voodoo

Some limited edition Axe scents released on the US market include:

  • Below-0 (limited edition)
  • Boost (limited edition body wash)
  • Ready (limited edition)
  • Recovery (limited edition)
  • Relapse (limited edition)
  • Willing (limited edition)

Internationally, a number of additional fragrances are available. While all of these can be found under the Axe brand, some are also sold under the Lynx brand.

  • Accelerate
  • Adrenaline
  • Africa
  • Air (limited edition)
  • Alaska
  • Anti-Hangover (limited edition)
  • Atlantis
  • Below-0 (limited edition)
  • Click
  • Clix
  • Conviction
  • Dimension
  • eau de Katherine
  • Fusion
  • Gravity
  • Horny juice (limited edition)
  • Ice (limited edition)
  • Ignite (limited edition)
  • Inca
  • Java
  • Jet
  • Maniac
  • Marine
  • Mirage
  • Musk
  • Native
  • Nevada
  • Pulse
  • Re.Load
  • Recover
  • Sexy (limited edition)
  • Silver Fusion (limited edition)
  • Tempest
  • Vice
  • White Label (limited edition)
  • Zero (Millennium) (limited edition)

[edit] Release of Clix

In 2006, Axe launched their newest fragrance, Clix, again advertised as a way for men to attract women. The television ad for the product, also available on Axe's website at http://www.theaxeeffect.com/axeclix.html shows Nick Lachey using a tally counter to count how many women (and one man) flirt with him. In the ad, he continuously flirts with attractive women as he goes about his everyday business. At the end of the advert Lachey shows off his clicker score of 103, to a young working man in an elevator. His pride and dignity is ruined as the geeky-looking young elevator attendant displays his enormous score, 2,372, on his own clicker, beating Lachey's score. At then end of the commercial, a flashback to the beginning of the day shows the elevator attendant using Clix before getting dressed. The commercial is set to the song "Gangster of Love" by Johnny "Guitar" Watson.

A similar ad was also made starring Ben Affleck for the Lynx label for the international market. The ad uses a few of the same scenes as the version with Nick Lachey, although many of the scenes are different.

[edit] Advertisements

The popular 2003 UK advert for Lynx Pulse, featuring a man performing a spontaneous dance routine with some women in a bar, catapulted the accompanying track "Make Luv" to the UK No. 1 spot in the music charts when it was re-released by Room 5 featuring Oliver Cheatham.

The Lynx "Billions" Advert portrays billions of bikini clad women running through forests and swimming through oceans to reach a man. The advert was shown once on British national television and has reached near cult status.[citation needed] The ad features the song Dies Irae, by Karl Jenkins. It was retooled for Axe in the United States in 2006.

Axe/Lynx has also had a number of controversial,[citation needed] sexually explicit advertisements.

  • In early 2006, Axe began marketing a body wash via a fictitious cult that helps men cleanse their bodies and conscience from questionable casual sexual encounters. Axe Snake Peel is described as the "Sanctioned shower scrub of The Order of The Serpentine." [4]
  • In mid-2004, an advertisement featured two frogs engaging in sexual intercourse. The ad also featured a man and a woman about to engage in the same. This advertisement has been revoked.[citation needed]
  • Advertisement titled "Listening 101", featured a woman talking to a man, while he is being distracted. The distractions are a car, then a football game, followed by two lesbians making out, with blurs.
  • The current advertising tagline for Lynx in the UK is "Spray more. Get more." and "Bom Chicka Wah Wah"
  • The current advertising tagline for Axe in South Africa is "Get a girlfriend."

[edit] Axefeather

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Axefeather is a promotional website. Axefeather.com is part of Unilever's viral marketing campaign targeting 16-to-20-year-old men.[citation needed] The interactive site invites the viewer (with the phrase "Play with me") to tickle a picture of a scantily-clad woman with a feathered cursor. The interactive presentation was directed by Olivier Rabenschlag.[citation needed]

[edit] In Video Games

Axe released an online game for PC called Mojo Master to promote their products. The game has the player trying to seduce digital women using Axe products to help them out. An online component was also added to the game to enable further features to be unlocked and allow players to compete against each other.

Axe has advertised itself in several other video games, including:

[edit] In Television

Cooperating with MTV, an hour-long special known as The Gamekillers was produced in 2006. The show profiled various stereotypical characters who "ruin your chances at getting any" with their annoying habits that tend to break up dates. Around the same time Axe ran several similar "Gamekiller" ads featuring the same actors.

An advertisement is also found at the end of episode #56 of Aqua Teen Hunger Force

Its first global branded entertainment show, City Hunters, premiered throughout Latin America on October 2006 on the FOX network. The series, which blends traditional animation techniques with the latest generation of CGI, consists of ten 11 minute episodes. It was co-produced by Unilever for the AXE brand. It is a male-targeted series that integrates the AXE brand into the storyline. The animated series follows the antics of an aging Casanova, Dr. Lynch, and the young man he's training in the art of seducing women. The series was created by Catmandu Branded Entertainment, a branded entertainment firm in Buenos Aires, Argentina & USA. The characters were developed by Italian illustrator Milo Manara.

[edit] External links

[edit] Official country web sites

[edit] Other Axe/Lynx marketing sites

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