A new low for Axe

Published: August 29, 2007, 3:40 pm

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.

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