Ads Review - Axe Find Your Magic
How do you transition a brand like Axe, that for so long was entrenched in traditional ideals of toxic masculinity, into a brand that is inclusive and understanding of modern consumers?
With a self-aware campaign that celebrates every kind of guy.
Check out this ad and then I’ll explain what makes it work so well.
It’s Self-Aware
Axe launched their Find Your Magic campaign a few years ago, and since then have completely rebranded into an inclusive and encouraging voice in the men’s hygiene space. Getting people to take you seriously after being the GoDaddy of deodorant is tough. But Axe did it by being self-aware. From the first few seconds of this ad, you can tell it’s going to be different. They make fun of an ad with six pack abs, then show a normal looking guy with a big nose sitting in the passenger seat of a car. That’s the first shot. Axe had built their masculine empire pretty high, so naturally they had some deconstruction to do if they wanted to rebrand.
The Voice-Over is Great
The script of the voice-over is awesome. It uses repetition to jump from one scene to the next, building up to a conclusion along the way. It follows the pattern of “Who needs blank when you have blank…or blank when you have blank.” After a while, you start to get the picture that there’s no need to envy what another has when you can leverage what you have.
The Talent Is Diverse
You could almost fault Axe here for being unilaterally inclusive that it comes off as disingenuous–like they just asked the casting director for one of each. Except that this is exactly the point of the spot. Axe was now for everyone, and so Axe wanted to show as many different kinds of people as they could. When I saw this commercial, I was thrilled. I was happy that we didn’t have to see sexist ads from them anymore. But I was more excited that Axe was encouraging people to be themselves, and lean into what makes them cool.
Closing
A major rebrand like this is tough–redesigning the website is one thing, but to be redefined in customer’s minds is another thing. Axe did it well in this campaign, diverting from an advertising angle that made them millions of dollars over the years. Good for them, and good ad.
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