Week 1 Blog: Men and Women Throughout Advertising

You Tube Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgxxAwue7

News Article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp- dyn/content/article/2006/04/02/AR2006040201235_pf.html

The implication that Axe’s body spray will help men gain women’s attention is interlaced throughout the company’s advertising.  One of Axe’s commercials, “Boom Chicka Wah Wah” shows a young woman pushing an elderly woman in a wheelchair throughout a grocery store.  The young woman is walking forward and suddenly stops because of a young man’s aroma.  She takes a huge inhale through her nose of his scent, which implicates the “power” of Axe’s fragrance. 

The “power” of the aroma causes her to push the elderly woman in the wheelchair away from her, which suggests that the young woman is more interested in the smell of Axe than the safety of the elderly woman.  She begins to chant “boom chicka wah wah” in a playful manner at the young man and starts dancing and bouncing her body towards him, which suggests that she is uncontrollably attracted to him because of his scent.  The young man begins to look at the woman as if she were an object for his entertainment and smiles; this suggests that woman turn into sexual beings and become out of control when they are around men who wear Axe fragrance.  Axe is targeting men who seek female interest; this interest is highly sexual and for their personal entertainment purposes only.  The commercial degrades woman by representing them as animal like beings and gives men a confidence boost by telling them that they will have complete power over woman just by wearing a fragrance.

According to the article, “Teen Boys Picking Up on a Scent: Body Spray” by Lori Aratani of the Washington post, Axe has become a phenomenon for males of all ages.  Even though Axe claims that they target men between the ages of 18 and 24, boys as young as 11 are using the fragrance because it “leaves guys smelling great so they can concentrate on more important things -- like how to get the girl.”  The message that Axe is sending to males worldwide is clear: in order to have females surrounding you, you must wear Axe; without Axe, you aren’t masculine because you won’t have females begging for your attention.  This message is being reiterated to the male youth.  It is obvious after viewing this commercial and reading this article that men and women have extremely different target markets and are portrayed completely different throughout advertising.