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Axe (brand)

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Various Axe/Lynx products

Axe, or Lynx (see below), is a brand of male grooming products, owned by Anglo-Dutch company Unilever who manufacture a range of products in the health & beauty, household cleaning, food and ice cream categories.

Axe's lead product is a deodorant body spray. The brand also includes deodorant sticks, roll-ons, anti-perspirants, aftershaves and shower gels. In most of the world the brand is named Axe; in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, and the United Kingdom it is named Lynx.

History

Axe was launched in France in 1983 by Fabergé which became part of the Unilever group of companies in 1989. It was created as a version of one of Unilever's other brands, Impulse, but targeted at males. Impulse was a fragranced deodorant body spray for women that promised wearers male attention [1]. Unilever were keen to capitalize on Axe's French success and rolled it out in the rest of Europe from 1985 onwards, later introducing the other products in the range. It could not use the Axe brand name in UK & Ireland as this had already been trademarked by another company who tried to sell the rights back to Unilever for a vast sum, so it was launched as Lynx.

The European launch of the deodorant was followed by success in Latin America and moderate impact in Asia and Africa. In the new millennium the brand has launched with great success in the USA and Canada.[2] The company has also consolidated its deodorant portfolio by migrating other over-lapping male deodorants into the Axe brand such as South Africa's Ego brand.

Variants

From its launch, the yearly fragrance variant of Axe has played a key part in the success of the brand, by offering something new each year. The type of fragrance variants have evolved over time. From 1983 until about 1989, the variant names were descriptions of the odor of the fragrance inside and included Musk, Spice, Amber, Marine and Oriental.

From 1990 until 1996 geographic names were used such as Africa, Alaska, Java, Nevada and Inca. From 1996 to 2002 Axe took inspiration from Calvin Klein fragrances (also owned by Unilever at that time), using the same perfumer, Anne Gottlieb[3], to develop the fragrances to launch variants such as Dimension, Apollo, Voodoo, Gravity and Phoenix.

From 2003 Axe variants showed clever ways they helped men get women. In 2003 the Pulse fragrance showed how it gave geeky men the confidence to dance to get women[4]. This was followed by Touch[5], Unlimited[6], Clix[7] and in 2007 Vice[7] was marketed on a theme of making "nice" women become "naughty".

In 2008 a different direction was taken when a chocolate scented body spray, Dark Temptation, was released.[8]

Axe Yearly Variant Chronology

Axe's list of yearly body-spray variants is as follows. Please note this list does not include limited edition or short lived variants, as these are listed in a following table.

Year Variant Name Description Notes
1983 Amber[9], Musk[10], Spice[11] Variant name is a description of fragrance inside. The first three variants that Axe launched with in France.
1985 Amber, Musk, Spice Variant name is a description of fragrance inside. In this year these three variants were used to launch the brand in UK.[1]
1987 Oriental[12] Variant name is a description of fragrance inside. This was the first 'new' variant that Axe launched and started a strategy of a yearly new variants
1989 Marine[13] Variant name is a description of fragrance inside.
1995 Africa A warm spicy fragrance that evokes the continent of Africa. Africa has consistently been the biggest variant in UK and still is in 2008
1998 Apollo[14] An abstract variant Named after the Greek god
1999 Voodoo[15] An abstract variant Caused some controversy with Christian groups who objected to the use of black magic imagery
2000 Phoenix[16] An abstract variant The name references the myth of the Phoenix
2001 Gravity[17] An abstract variant The advertising featured a man falling to earth
2002 Dimension[18] An abstract variant Inspired by the Sony's PS2 Third Place advertising[citation needed] which is also targeted at young men
2002 Apollo, Kilo, Orion, Phoenix, Tsunami, Voodoo Axe launches in USA[1]. This is the line up that Axe launched with in USA
2003 Pulse A European variant suggests that it gives geeks added confidence so they can pull off crazy dance moves to impress girls and be irresistible[4]. Used the Make Luv dance track which reached number 1 in UK.
2003 Essence This US variant was about Man, part good - part bad, and has an angel/demon icon Used TV advertising that showed two sides to a man's relationship with women
2004 Touch Touch is all about getting women so excited they get turned on just by looking at a man who is wearing this scent. The TV advert features women getting more and more turned on[5]
2005 Unlimited Unlimited is all about China and kungfu and doing unlimited stunts to get girls Mimics the Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon Chinese kungfu film[6].
2006 Clix or Click This variant makes men so attractive to women they will need a clicker to keep score of the number of women who check them out Uses Nick Lachey in the advertising who is out-scored by a hotel worker who wears Clix. Axe gave away free clickers to promote the scent. The lynx version uses Ben Affleck in the advertising instead of Nick Lachey.[7]
2007 Vice The Vice variant claims that it will turn 'nice girls naughty' thanks to the forbidden fruits in the fragrance. Uses a Morgan Freeman look-a-like in the advertising that mimics the style of a crime film. [19]
2008 Dark Temptation A chocolate smelling fragrance that implies that because women like chocolate, they will find men who smell of chocolate irresistible. Advertising features a man who turns into chocolate when he sprays himself with Axe. He then goes on to be eaten by a series of women.[8]

Axe Limited Edition Chronology

Axe also launches limited edition variants from time to time that may be on sale for a few months or over a year.

Year Limited Edition Name Description Notes
2008 DRY Sharp Focus A 'stimulating' mint smelling fragrance allowing the wearer to stay focused and get the girl. Advertising features a man that stays focused when he sprays himself with Axe.
2008 Recover A burst of invigorating citrus notes on a clean masculine woody background! One of the 2 scents released by AXE under LIMITED EDITION.
2008 Shock Prepare yourself with the cooling effects of AXE Shock shower gel with glacier water and deep sea mint One of the 2 scents released by AXE under LIMITED EDITION.

Controversy

Adverse publicity has been generated by accusations of:

  • Sexist and degrading advertising [20]
  • Homophobic
  • Contradictory messages versus Dove which is also owned by Unilever [20]
  • Being seen to encourage sexual promiscuity [21]
  • Harmful effect of Volatile Organic Compounds in aerosol deodorant on mothers and babies [22]
  • Link between ingredients found in aerosols and damage to the environment [23]
  • Potential for solvent abuse and subsequent death amongst young males [24]
  • Being banned in schools because of the health risks [25]
  • Includes ingredients tested on animals [26]
  • Targeting adverts at underage children [27]

References

  1. ^ a b c Children Of The Web
  2. ^ *Internal Unilever Document revealing success and market share of Axe/Lynx brand in all markets where launched
  3. ^ Fragrance Directory - Basenotes
  4. ^ a b Creative Media Database TV as TRENDSETTER
  5. ^ a b Axe Touch
  6. ^ a b New Lynx fragrance set to deliver 'Unlimited' sales
  7. ^ a b c Lynx- Click
  8. ^ a b Chocolate deodorant to lure girls
  9. ^ Axe Amber / Lynx Amber by Axe / Lynx (1983)
  10. ^ Axe Musk / Lynx Musk by Axe / Lynx (1983)
  11. ^ Axe Spice / Lynx Spice by Axe / Lynx (1983)
  12. ^ Lynx Orient / Axe Orient by Axe / Lynx (1987)
  13. ^ Axe Marine / Lynx Marine by Axe / Lynx (1989)
  14. ^ Axe Apollo / Lynx Apollo by Axe / Lynx
  15. ^ Axe Voodoo / Lynx Voodoo by Axe / Lynx (1999)
  16. ^ Axe Phoenix / Lynx Phoenix by Axe / Lynx (2000)
  17. ^ Axe Gravity / Lynx Gravity by Axe / Lynx (2001)
  18. ^ Lynx Dimension by Axe / Lynx (2002)
  19. ^ Axe Vice
  20. ^ a b http://www.adweek.com/aw/creative/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003657582
  21. ^ The Menaissance | World news | The Observer
  22. ^ Personal care aerosols court controversy
  23. ^ BBC NEWS | Health | Aerosols 'harm mother and baby'
  24. ^ BBC News | UK | Star pupil's spray can death
  25. ^ Teachers bemoan curse of the 'Lynx effect' | News crumb | EducationGuardian.co.uk
  26. ^ Review: Lynx Deodorant by Natural Skincare Authority
  27. ^ Ax the Axe Campaign
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