Culture Jam Assignment

Original Advertisement

The original advertisement for Axe body spray is part of Axe’s controversial marketing efforts of their products. Given Axe’s target audience of young males, they are infamously known for provocative advertisement that exploit issues such as masculinity, body image, and objectification of women. Young males are especially prone to body image issues given the unrealistic standards imposed by today’s society through the media. In this ad, a young man appears to apply Axe’s body spray to parts of his body. In return, the impacted parts of his body change to be more fit and groomed and he seems to become satisfied with himself. However, the untouched parts of his body appear to be overweight and hairy which Axe attempt to display as less desirable. This is supposedly “The Axe Effect” as they call it in the ad: by using Axe’s deodorant you instantly become content with your body image. Axe knows that in today’s society it is not uncommon for young men to be insecure about their body image, and they exploit that by enforcing that the “ideal” body will result in overall satisfaction. This is the problem I will be tackling in my jammed version of the ad. Instead of focusing on what Axe’s product actually provides, they attempt to trigger insecurities in young males in order to motivate them to buy their products.

Jammed Version of the Advertisement

My deconstruction of the original ad attempts to reveal what Axe actually attempts to do with their marketing strategy. Axe is exploiting insecurities about appearance instead of what their product is actually providing: a good smell. Given the original ad’s already absurd imagery, I conveyed the negative social message of the ad using words. I started by surfacing the emotion the ad is trying to touch which is body image insecurity. Axe is using an “ideal” body that many young males want to have and attempts to convey it as the only satisfactory body. While we know the “ideal” body is almost impossible to achieve because no matter how fit you become you may always want to be fitter, Axe makes it seem like it’s extremely easy; all you need to do is spray some of their product. I attempt to make the obvious clear by noting all the work that needs to be done in order to theoretically reach the ideal body, and how it won’t actually happen solely by using Axe’s products. I then make it explicit what Axe is actually selling: just a better body smell. At best it will make someone using it feel better about himself for a moment, but it by no means can help achieve an “ideal” body or have any long-term positive effects on one’s confidence. Finally, I changed the ad’s slogan “The Axe Effect” to what it’s actually is: “The Deceptive Effect”. The ad is deceptive because it leads people to believe that the product can solve their appearance insecurities, while in fact it can’t possibly solve the underlying psychological reasons for feeling insecure in the first place. We know that there is no single “ideal” body and that achieving satisfaction with one’s body requires a lot more than a good body smell, hence the “deception” by Axe.