AXE, for the modern man
Axe has grown up. That’s right. The men’s brand that stayed famously adolescent for years, creating advertising segments around the “Axe effect,” “clean balls” and the “dumpster diver” (the latter being a buxom woman driving an expensive car who chases after a undeserving man who, you guessed it! is diving into dumpsters) repositioned itself this year.
And it’s a revolution, not an evolution.
It unveiled a new manifesto, called “Find your Magic,” where men are portrayed as individuals, doing things that the old Axe guy would never in a million years do. They’re dancing (even one in heels!), holding cats, protesting . “Who needs another thing when you got your thing?” the advertisement asks. “Now work on it.”
The video has more than 10.5 million views on YouTube as of recently, and the comments are good. Really good. Even for YouTube. They include “This is the last company I’d expect to make an ad like this.” Another, “Great ad. I approve, and you should too.”
But this isn’t just an ad campaign. The brand’s done a total refresh — with grown up packaging that carries the emphasis on individual style even further. Sleek and unexpected, it’s modern masculinity — not for that guy guzzling a beer at Hooters. “Whatever your style, we’ve got a product to keep your mane looking razor sharp,” the website proclaims.
And they’ve created a “Magic Finder” quiz that promises to tell you “what makes you tick.” It’s set up to send articles, style tips and product recommendations — “all tailor-made to suit your magic.” And there’s a section called, “Is it ok for guys to…?” which suggests searches such as, “yoga, be nervous, wear pink, show emotion.”
It’s a total turnaround from where the brand was before — and one that feels in line with the year’s cultural emphasis on feminism and gender-bending. Kudos to a brand that took its overarching idea — masculinity — and reframed it to be culturally relevant, from end-to-end.
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