The Axe ad analyzed by Josh I think in a lot of way s is way
off. The main focus of this ad is to
sell cologne by using comedy. In the ad,
Axe uses sex to sell their product but that is a normal practice for ads
catering to both men and women. I also believe
Josh is wrong when he claims the message of the ad " appears to be that if
men use Axe Essence body spray, they will attract sexy women in lingerie, and
will lust for those women over their ordinary girlfriends." I think the message is quite clear, Axe
believes men are made of two equal parts: the upper half is a nice guy casually making
small talk with his girlfriend. The
bottom half is the bad side craving sexual sex.
Axe's message is that the product is for both sides of you.
Josh focuses his review only on sex and totally forgets
there is a comedic point to the ad. Axe
often uses sex in an over the top manner to be funny and gain attention for their product
not with the intention to make a statment.
Josh is looking too deep into a very shallow ad.
I would have added a
negative expression on the woman's face as she observed his lower half looking
at the mannequin. Generally, people seem
amused by a male with a high sex drive
getting busted by his girlfriend and I think that could have add another layer
to this ad.
Hey Chris,
ReplyDeleteI found your blog really interesting actually. I never thought of looking at it that way. I agree with what you said about Axe trying to make their ad funny because now looking back I think that it was definitely one of their main focuses. I don't think Josh completely missed the point though I think he had a lot of great things to say about it but I do think that he left out the comedic aspect of it which you mentioned. Good job!
Hi Chris, I had the same thought about your quote you incorporated, "appears to be that if men use Axe Essence body spray, they will attract sexy women in lingerie, and will lust for those women over their ordinary girlfriends." That statement was made frivolously by the author and that is pretty much where he lost me when i was reading through it. I agree that humor should have been a bigger point in this ad, not just a guy being a "guy." Great job!
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