Ad of the Day: Axe Gets Inclusive in a Remarkable Ad That's Really Pretty Magical
Liberating guys from "pressure and bullshit" to just be themselves For years, the Axe brand was pretty one-dimensional. It appealed to bros with comical, hyperbolic ads about how Axe would turn them into chick magnets. In the past few years, that cartoony single-mindedness has given way, here and there, to richer messaging that downplayed the bro aspect (most notably in BBH's "Susan Glenn" and last year's Axe Hair campaign). Now, Axe takes another very big step toward more grown-up advertising thanks to 72andSunny in Amsterdam, which has crafted a new campaign for Axe grooming products, called "Find Your Magic." And it's all about shedding traditional notions of masculinity and embracing one's individual sense of how to be a man. The result? An excellent first 60-second anthem that features one man in high heels, another in a wheelchair—and a general sense of giddy liberation from the brand's quite cringe-worthy baggage of yore (no matter how much of it was self-aware).