Unliver: “You Can Get Some”
Imagine a man. It’s Friday night, and he’s tired,
just got out of work, he just arrived to his humble
apartment, and he wants nothing more for the rest of
the day but to wind down on his recliner watching TV
while eating some Pringles and drinking a Coke. After
all, he needs his rest for his date with Daisy, the account
executive with whom he’s been ever so affectionate of
ever since she transferred over to his office. His highest
hopes are to show her a great time, and hopefully
establish another date with her in the near future.
Then, suddenly an infamous 30 second Axe bodywash
time slot pops on. 2 women sensually caress a man
with soap lather while standing in a shower. The girl to
the left of the screen with frazzled wet black hair is
wearing a black and red bikini and is attentively washing
the right shoulder of the man with compassionate, half
closed eyes; her body at a shapely toned angle, with
stomach pressed forward toward the man, giving her
back a winding arch down to the curve of her hips. The
girl to the right of the screen with dirty gold blonde hair
that has been primed straight and pulled back with
water is wearing an onyx bikini with yellow and pink
square designs splattered sporadically across. She is
lustfully washing the stomach of the man with her open
palm gathering and building up soap scum as she waives
her hand across the lower torso. Her body is in an
elegant twist toward the left of the man, inching
forward in desire. All the while the man is staring
straight at you with a pleased accomplished smile and
drenched knives of his hair sliced across his forehead.
His posture and stance is that of acceptance and a lanky
awkward stature. All the while, the infamous slogan is
stretched across the screen. “The Axe Effect is now in
Your Bathroom.”
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The man immediately know this is just some marketing
scheme to fool ignorant sexist, sex hungry men into
buying a perfumed body wash. Though it does begin to
cross his mind, ‘maybe smelling alil better will give me
that extra edge with Daisy tomorrow.’ Axe has done
their job in getting into his personal life, but more
importantly to them, this man’s wallet.
In another house somewhere in the world, a
lonely housewife sits watching TV on a loveseat; passing
the time waiting for her husband to arrive home, then
flashes an ad of Axe’s feminist sister; Dove soap. Four
women stand next to and hold each other in a playful
pose of semi sexuality. Each wears bright pearl white
bras and panties that speak gentle whispers of
cleanliness. The two women to the right of the frame
are tall and of opposite skin tones; one a bronzed tan,
and the other a gleaming white. They stand with a calm
and relaxed posture. The one to the left middle is
muscular in stature, with bulging muscles showing from
her underarm as she puts her hands across the
shoulders of the two women next to her. The woman to
the right has a wide smile that is dimpled at the cheek
bones. The other two women to the left of the frame
are of opposite skin tones as well, one being and olive
dark, and the other a pale white. They are in an excited
stance, as the women to the left arches her hips in
playfulness, and the women to the right of her slouches
in laughter. They all appear to be in their mid-30’s.As
this time slot nears its end with the women laughing
and smiling, dove imitates its brother with an appealing
feminist factoid: “The company made the decision to
use real women after research showed 98% of British
women think models used in beauty advertising are
unrealistic.” And atop all of this pathos and ‘realistic’
beautification, the scene is crowned with the words;
“Dove presents:’ Beyond Compare’.”
Her husband then calls her phone, and informs her that
he is going to be late home so he can go to a bar with
some of his buddies. This will be the third day in a row
that he does. The women’s mind begins to streak with
anxiety and worry. She really misses her husband, and
she would hate for him to leave her so he can hook up
with some random floozy at a bar. ‘Maybe if I tried
making myself look a bit prettier, he’d come straight
home more often.” Dove has, just as her brother has,
succeeded in getting involved in a person’s personal
affairs, and will most happily enjoy the cash laced in the
victims purse above all. “Those women are real, just like
You can definitley do so by buying a cheap deaoderant
that will musk your body with an overpowering stench of
‘fragrance’ as listed by the bottle. Along the listed side
note of ingrediants, which Axe has taken the
inconspicuous notion to hide in very small font, is a more
“Masculine” label that will catch the eye of a consumer.
you.” She thinks.
Unilever is the proud 2-faced owner of both the
Axe brand, and the Dove soap line; and just as well, the
sole creator of these sexist, and feminist ads.
With Axe, Unilever will tell you to quit being a
nobody, and go get a girlfriend.
Fine products indeed, if you are a male looking to attract
women, or Cindy and Diane from Yukon. However, if you
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are a women, you may be quite offended by such
cheeky implications from Axe. At least, youd think most
women would be.
According to an interview conducted by Seattle
Times, in the interview with Oneika Richardson, much of
the sexism that Axe implies is quite offensive, but is so
to an extant of ridiculousness, and is perceived as
humorous. Thus ultimately, anyone who would normally
be offended by sexist tyranny will disregard being
offended, and will laugh at the clever marketing scheme
Unliver has devised to please one and all. "I just find the
ads cute and cheeky, honestly," "The first time I saw
them, I immediately laughed".
Axe has perfected the art of selling sex, using
sexism. Their ads will induce the ignorant males seeking
female attention into buying their product, while making
informed men become tempted into buying their product
for the sake of pleasing a women or multiple women. It
will go on to make the vast majority of women who may
or may not be offended, disregard any disrespect geared
to them as being sex toys with a slight chuckle or
outburst of lauphter. Even to the women who are
outrightly offended, the commercial will be grained into
their minds since they were offended by it. Axe has
ingeniously learned that even to offend some will only
work for them; in business, advertising is key. No matter
what Axe still wins. "I teach one media class of 140
[students]," says California State University, Sacramento
instructor Timi Ross Poeppelman. "And every single one
of them knows these ads, whether they like them or not.
On that level, the ads work, regardless of what we think
of them." Advertising’s goal is to make at least one of
two marks on a consumer: either persuade a consumer
to buy a product, or at the very least, inform them of the
product so that they never forget what it is.
For those women who are just completely
sickened, and utterly disgusted by Axe’s marketing
techniques, they can always turn to Axe’s more
understanding, female friendly sister company; Dove.
With Dove, Unilver takes the complete opposite
approach than that of Axe to its consumers. Dove will tell
you, you’re beautiful just the way you are, and make no
focus whatsoever in recent ad campaigns to outrightly
tell you to buy their product. Dove has focused on being
seen as a pure campaign for soap, trying in valid efforts
to gain the trust of its consumers; with symbolisms as
the dove; a beacon of purity and hope in biblical
references, that is imprinted on every box and bar of
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soap that it sells. Dove’s yearning for acceptance by its
consumers is only seen more thoroughly through its
multiple ads implying to consumers; “You don’t need to
change the way you look, you look fine just the way you
are.”
These constant messages of pathos next to ‘average
everyday’ women give the implication to consumers that
they should be comfortable with themselves; and its
Dove’s ideal, that since they are the ones whom
informed them, that they will buy their product. And
believe it or not, this alone without telling consumers to
straight out buy their product, actually works. This is in
Dove’s attempts to draw consumers to trust and believe
in their products in a loyalty that will bring the company a
consistent and plentiful income.
“I'm just glad that the design is still pretty simple and
not like ZOMG AXE IS FOR MENZ kind of design.” Kristen
Allen
“It's all about the smell. Dove has pretty good brand
equity with me.” Samantha Perm on the permalink
forums
“Love Dove. Been using it for over 10 years” Bardell
Wilson on the permalink forums
Perry Fair, creative director of the Grey Group
who has worked on numerous ads has been very
successful in making people believe in certain brand
names. His star children in example are Gatorade,
whom now is a sponsor of all major American sports,
and Target whom is seen as the family superstore and
has been powerful enough to challenge the likes of
global superstore power Wal-Mart. Sport Athletes trust
that Gatorade will replenish them in their exhaust
during a major game, and families worldwide trust
target to supply them with a vast majority of their
needs and wants. “But only because if you believe in the
brand, you will eventually purchase it.”
Dove has even gone out of their way to make
soap specifically designed ‘for men’ (a marketing phrase
really meaning; ‘targeted towards’). This is mostly due
to a driven stereotype-evoked due to Dove’s own
feminist ads-in the idea that the soap will mostly only
sell to women. Whilst the only difference between a
regular Dove soap bar, and Dove “MEN+CARE” bar is
the color of the soap bar, and the packaging it comes in.
The ingredients are virtually the same, with the
only difference in the “For Men” Bars which
contain small moisturizing and scrubbing beads
within the bar, “For moisturizing and detailing
power.” According to dove.
“LOL - real men don't like ‘moisturizing power’
LOL” – by Good Stuff, on the Permalink Forums.
Dove has made earnest attempts to give obtain
a convincing guise of being realistic and honest to its
consumers, though this in itself for being the sister
company of Axe conjoined by Unilever has erupted
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much controversy among consumers. Many of those
who are sincerely in offense from Axe’s stereotypical
ads have questioned Unilever as to why they market
The brother Axe in a “College Male Fantasy” fashion
that promotes all men (and I mean all, not just ‘21 and
up’ as axe claims its target consumers to be) into
getting laid in the most ridiculous of ways with the help
of their cheap neon colored body wash. All the while,
Innocent Sister Dove makes women’s rights activists
cheer from their couch cushions, sinks, and showers
while informing the masses to talk to your daughter
about sex before the media does. Unilever -as the
parent company of Dove-has helped release the latest
ads in its "Campaign for Real Beauty", which upbraids
sexploitation in advertising and tells parents to "Talk to
your daughter before the beauty industry does."
In retrospect, Dove is telling its consumers to
keep an eye on her brother Axe, or else your daughter
will be the one viewers are giggling at as she caresses a
man head to toe with soap lather; all the while another
girl does the same to her for a straight 30 seconds. Or is
this Unilever’s way of using one company to make
repentance for the evils committed by another? Or Does
Unliver even care, or actually share the views of either
one of their expressed brands? An experienced director
of the Medical Consumer Group from Harvard Sue Lin
considers this very view. "Either treat them the Dove way
or the Axe way. Unilever has dismissed it as just a joke.
But, in fact, advertising images have a powerful effect,
even if people don't realize it. Especially if they don't
realize it." Any company that has emerged to become a
multibillion dollar corporation with many popular brand
names as assets, (Unilever owns a lot more than just
Dove and Axe) hasn’t become one without the help of
some form of hypnopaedic advertising.
The idea of hypnopaedic advertising is to
hypnotize a consumer into buying, a product of a
company advertized through repetitive commercials and
or appealing slogans and commercial tunes. Or at the
very least, is used to ingrain the product into the
subconscious of consumers, whether they would be
interested in the product or not, for the use of person to
person advertising in familiarity. Have you ever fallen
asleep to the merry tune of a commercial while lying at
your bed, and then find yourself whistling the tune
throughout the next day? This is a prime example of
hypnopaedia. You may not even remember what brand
the tune belongs to, but someone who hears you
whistling may; which in turn may cause them to go buy
the product or service, as well as whistle the tune
themselves, which may cause another in hearing
distance who’s been subconsciously hypnotized to do
the same; catalyzing a chain of person to person
hypnotic advertising. This is the very goal of any
company’s hypnopaedic advertisements. Many of Axe’s
ads are aired late in the middle of the night starting
around 10:00 PM, and playing all through the night
time’s time slots all up to about 6:00 AM. Hypnopaedic
advertising at its finest.
Even a novice business man can see the grand
scheme of Unilever’s actions. Unilever may or may not
share some of the views expressed in their
advertisements, but to them and any other smart
business corporation, it really doesn’t matter if they do or
don’t. An experienced ad creator Con Williamson can
concur. Williamson has been the chief creator in ads for
brands such as Heineken, Kraft, Jaguar, and Dos Equis
“The Most Interesting Man in the World” ads. “People
who work in advertising tend
to be a pretty liberal crowd. Our clients don’t always
line up with our morals and standards. We
tend to check our politics at the door. Our job is
to sort of blindly believe in what we sell.”
You will eventually purchase it.”
They’ve learned, ingeniously, how to use two
polar opposite brand names, use each brands targeted
consumers, each opposite in almost every way, and gain
both the left, right, and middle branches of all consumers
that exist in the market for body soap. As the ridiculous
amount of planning as that might sound for a mere brand
of soap, consider how much money that brings in for a 2
partner companies that are within the same corporation
at a time span of just a single week. Each bar of soap or
body wash sells for average of 3$-8$. Unilever is in
possession of an enormous and loyal consumer roster,
who regularly buy their product. In addition to that money
making arsenal, they have a plethora of offensive and
pathos filled ads that are known worldwide to inform and
hypnotically and consciously persuade those who don’t
buy regularly. With that in mind, as well as the fact that
much of the world bathes daily, imagine the amount of
many that Unilever makes just on a weekly bases, with
Axe and Dove’s soaps combined income. On the note of
Unilever’s profit, and not just whole income, take into
account the soap that both companies make costs about
10 cents per bottle or bar; that includes the production of
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the soap, as well as the bottle or box it is put in. That’s
quite a bit of money from lonely housewives, and love
sick men.
Thanks to key advertising, hypnopaedic
advertising, and brand placement and choosing, Unilver
has manipulated our sex crazed society to its advantage,
a manipulation very similar to Brave New World, a book
by Aldous Huxley. Where all who inhabit the world are
always seeking pleasure and nothing more, than to fulfill
one’s own selfish desires and cravings. Where there is
no presence whatsoever of today’s ever dwindling
morals that is in any semblance of monogamy,
faithfulness, or anything of likeness that may take away
from pleasure’s intent. “Everyone belongs to everyone
else”. This is something we in reality-whether we like to
admit it or not- yearn for. To blissfully, have our way, and
seek and obtain endless pleasure. Unilver understands
this to an extent, and employs it within the Axe ads to
obtain the money of these pleasure seeking people. But
for those who have control over themselves and restrain
themselves from their animalistic desires, Unilever has
employed the more mature Dove brands to siphon their
cash away as well. Unilever sure does have a lot of
semblance to an Alpha Controller; an elite race of
‘people’ in Huxley’s book, that govern the people of
lower rank. They are The Controllers of Soap, Lather,
and Fragrance.
Maybe not too significant a threat, since it’s just
soap. But how often do you take a bath? And how awful
do you feel when you don’t? Such control they already
have. Even when you aren’t giving you full attention to
their ads as they play through your subconscious
unawareness. Whether they intentionally seek to gain
control or not, one thing is for sure; they make a
substantial amount of money off of soap; and not
because its great soap either. But because they’ll do
whatever they have to, to make profit. Just as any other
respective businessman, corporation, small business, or
even door to door salesman will do.
In Unilever’s defense, that is to adhere to the
very same rules that any other small time Door to Door
salesman would have to. They must put aside their
beliefs and personal views, and blindly sell their product,
and believe in their product, as Con Williamson had said.
Just as lawyers defend serial murderers and rapists,
even when they know without a doubt their client is
guilty, Unilever must tuck away their own beliefs like an
attorney and sell their brands in whatever way will get
them sold to the masses. Even if that means
contradicting one brand over another, exaggerating the
effects of a product, attempting hypnopedia on
consumers, and just flat out lying to them.
Though one must wonder how other soap
businesses such as Ivory, and Arm and Hanmmer (they
make body wash too) thrive so well with little to no
advertising. They are up to par with the sales of Axe and
Dove, yet Unilever’s two companies must use people’s
lustful desires and feminine activist vibes in order to gain
their trust; rather than the actual product itself. Ivory, a
humbly well known brand makes more money than Axe,
and has so before Axe ever made its sexual debut. This
is so because rather than using constant subconscious
and hypnopedic advertising, they let the product speak
for itself. What an honest business corporation does.
While Unilever may be successful in lying and cheating
their way to the top ten soap brands; honest brands such
as Ivory will always have the majestic glory. For they
have the money, the humility, the morality, and above
all: Their soap actually makes does what soap is
supposed to do. Clean.
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