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By Randy J. Klodz
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Photo by Brian J. Morowczynski
Two cans, three girls. Our reporter puts the so-called babe magnet deodorants to the test. |
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You’ve seen the tantalizing TV ads where a sexy
blonde douses a male mannequin with Axe Deodorant Body Spray,
eyes the dummy hungrily, then coils her slender body around
it and goes at it like a teen on prom night.
Can a $3 can of cologne attract the amorous attention of the
opposite sex? And will a multimillion-dollar marketing campaign
convince men to start perfuming themselves like girls at a
slumber party?
I wanted to see for myself — and for all of mankind
— what the stink was all about: Can Axe (and its competitors)
turn an average woman into Sharon Stone in “Basic Instinct,”
or are these companies just spraying perfume in our faces?
Using the six scents
The Chicago-based Axe has brought its six scents into the
medicine cabinets of millions of men with overzealous product
names of mythical proportions. Why not fly to the moon with
Apollo, walk a mile with Kilo, gather the stars with Orion,
get hot and sweaty with Phoenix, blow over with Tsunami or
get entranced with Voodoo?
Axe’s hilarious ads may leave some skeptics with a false
hope in the dating game, but Kevin Olchawa, spokesperson for
Axe, clears the air: “The advertisement is obviously
tongue-in-cheek, witty and funny so we relate really well
to the target audience,” he says. “Guys have a
lot to deal with in dating and what Axe is trying to do is
make it a little more lighthearted.”
Axe isn’t the only flavor in the body spray market.
Cincinnati-based Old Spice put its 94 years of brand equity
into five varieties of its High Endurance Body Spray. Launched
at the same time as Axe, High Endurance was also marketed
as a sexual prowess builder. Full-page magazine ads read,
“Women who are exposed may experience an increase in
heart rate and a decrease in inhibitions.” Strong words
for a spray can.
Brent Miller, communications manager for Procter & Gamble,
makers of Old Spice and other grooming products, admits that
the sex appeal sales pitch may be just “a fun way to
grab a guy’s attention. Guys are more interested in
their image now and they are giving themselves more permission
to use more grooming products.”
Miller attributes grooming awareness to the expansion of male
lifestyle magazines, such as Maxim, FHM and Stuff.
Putting it to the test
Hunters and fishermen have always covered themselves in scents
to attract prey. Like the hunter I am, I wanted to attract
my own Bambi — the kind with two legs. I took to the
streets, spraying myself for one week with Axe body spray,
and one week with Old Spice High Endurance body spray. I visited
elevators, coffee shops, concert halls, bookstores and shopping
malls.
One woman definitely noticed. “It stinks up the whole
house when it’s sprayed in the bathroom,” my mother
complained. “Even the cat is in the corner crossing
his arms over his face.”
Like the deodorant guys said, I did feel added confidence
as I sprayed my bare chest and shoulders. But my results were
as I expected: nothing happened. The only Bambi I brought
home was the Disney DVD. 
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