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Ussama Khan
Melanie Zynel
English 1020
26 September 2012
The AXE Detailer Tool
In this day and age, old morals are not accounted for when it comes to business.
Everywhere we go, we see billboards, magazine covers, and television ads that sell their products
through the use of sex appeal. AXE is a personal hygiene brand geared towards men, with their
commercials consisting mainly of an average looking man being pursued by many attractive
women due to the use of their product. In 2010, AXE made a commercial advertising its new
product, the “AXE Detailer Tool,” which consisted of an attractive spokeswoman, and an equally
attractive professional tennis player presenting the product in a humorous manner by using a play
on words stating that the detailer tool works great for “cleaning your balls.” In this commercial,
AXE uses a clever combination of sex appeal and a humorous play on words to make an
unforgettable and daring commercial for the AXE Detailer Tool.
AXE is a men’s hygiene company that is famous for their line of different body sprays.
But besides the body spray, they are also known for their notoriously unrealistic commercials. It
seems like all of them are same, an average looking guy sprays some AXE on his body and all of
a sudden a crowd of beautiful women pursue him like a pack of hungry wolves. This too-goodto-be-true scenario may seem like a laughable matter on the surface, but it actually seems to have
an effect on the male psyche. As human beings, everyone has emotions, aspirations, ideas, and
most importantly they have fantasies. Many advertisers use more common fantasies to their own
advantage in order to sell things. When it comes to male fantasies, it seems that nothing is more
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common than the ones that involve the man getting the dream girl he desires. By using this main
idea and integrating it into an ad, companies can make powerful advertisements that can have
any man contemplate whether or not to buy the product next time they are shopping.
Throughout time, there has always been a type of barrier regarding an advertisements
level of inappropriateness, many advertisers strive to stay within the confines of this barrier, yet
there are a select few that try to push things to the limit, some succeed, others do not. During the
commercial, the two spokeswomen are clear and straight-forward, “nobody likes to play with
balls,” this short statement gets straight to the point to show what the message of the commercial
is. As the commercial progresses, the puns become more numerous and harder to miss as the two
women refer to tennis balls and golf balls to maintain the user friendliness of the product, yet
they do it in a manner that would shock anyone who has watched TV at all within the last 50
years. After watching the commercial, it makes the viewer question whether they actually heard
what they just did on public television, in the case of this commercial, the advertisers succeeded
in making something that viewers would never forget. This strategy shows how sometimes, you
can get the best results by simply introducing your message and talking about it in a straightforward manner that will stay in the viewer’s head, and perhaps even jog their memory next time
they are in the men’s body wash isle in their local grocery store.
Aside from the level of appropriateness of an ad, advertisers are no strangers to using sex
appeal in their work in order to make their products look better. As the commercial starts,
“Denese Saintclaire” aka Louise Griffiths, one of the Spokeswomen for the ad, walks in front of
the camera to introduce the other Spokeswoman “Monica Blake”, aka Jaime Pressly. As you
watch on, you notice how the two very attractive women begin to talk about the joys of playing
with clean “balls,” which is a very touchy subject. By using two beautiful women to talk so
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openly about such an awkward topic, the ad is promoting a level of sex appeal that only begins to
increase as you listen to them talking about how much women love to play with clean balls, and
a nice sounding English accent helps add a sophisticated feel to keep things classy. Men are
constantly looking for different ways to either improve their love life; or make themselves appear
more appealing to the opposite sex. By using the two women who seem to know exactly what
they are talking about on the basis of what women really want, the advertisement is giving men
false hope that all of their love life issues will be over simply by washing their balls with the
AXE body wash and detailer tool. Although it seems highly unlikely, AXE has certainly done an
extraordinary job of using sex appeal to demonstrate what would happen and what guys can look
forward to if they use their products, in a perfect world of course.
Infomercials are quite possibly one of the best ways for a company to advertise and sell
its products. Because of this simple fact, AXE portrayed their advertisement for the Detailer tool
in the form of a simple infomercial. It is safe to say that almost everyone has fallen victim to
infomercials, from the “amazingly absorbent ShamWow” to the “only 2 easy payments of
$29.95!” People seem to love infomercials, so what better way to advertise a miracle testicle
cleaning brush then to make it into an infomercial? This not only adds a satirical mood to the
commercial, but it actually seems like a real infomercial, grabbing the viewers’ attention. Aside
from making the commercial appear as an infomercial to grab a viewer’s attention, it can also
help you sell the product in a more practical way. Because of the fact that it is an infomercial, it
gives the spokesperson a chance to showcase the performance of the product. This allows the
advertisers to broaden their reach by appealing to people who would rather see a practical
demonstration of the product rather than to base their purchase of the cleverness or appeal of the
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ad. When it comes down to things, a well thought out commercial layout can reap many benefits
for the advertisement as a whole; a solid foundation can lead to a successful venture.
Advertisements have been around to sell products since the beginning of competitive
marketing. AXE is no stranger to the advertising business; as a matter of fact it is quite renowned
for its ads. By pushing the appropriateness barrier of the commercial by talking about “balls,” the
advertisement succeeds at captivating the attention of every man, woman, and child within ear
shot of the television. By using sex appeal, the advertisement establishes their target market and
further captivates the attention of the males that are watching the commercial. By formulating a
clever foundation for the advertisement, such as using an infomercial themed commercial, you
can find a great way to sell your product. Without a doubt this advertisement is inappropriate, yet
in a way it is also brilliant, the way it pushes the barriers, stays in your head, and how it appeals
to the senses truly make it a “ballsy” advertisement.