I really don't want to be a wet blanket. My guess is a lot of people might call me a killjoy, a narrow-minded, unsophisticated person.

 

But I really wanna murder the male chauvinist who thought up the brilliant concept for Axe Vice. He probably doesn't have a mother anyway, if he could come up with that commercial, so no one would probably miss him.

The commercial shows this detective who is puzzling over the latest crime wave: attacks on men committed by "nice girls"... sweet, prim and proper girls next door types. There's this scene where the police burst into an apartment and arrest this pretty girl mixing something in a bowl. Then we see a guy lying on the dining table apparently naked except for a mound of mayonnaise and fruit covering strategic parts... apparently Miss Nice Girl intended to have him for dessert. Then the detective researches something in what looks like a library. Voice over: and then it hit me. Cut to a page in a book about "the forbidden fruit". Groans from somewhere near, the detective runs towards the sounds. A can of Axe Vice rolls on the floor and we find the otherwise respectable-looking lady librarian stamping "overdue" all over this guy's bare chest. Duh!

 

It wasn't much at first, there is a certain sick humor to the commercial, but it finally got on my nerves. I mean really. Axe Vice: turns nice girls naughty. Who thought up that brilliant catchphrase? What was he thinking? The same as those sorry motherless creatures who think that all women are just asking for it? That women just need an excuse? The same thing running through the minds of serial rapists, perverts and killers? There is such a thing as girl power, but to equate it with this sick commercial is really far out. Moreover, as it is a TV commercial, what is it teaching all those impressionable young minds out there? It's teaching young boys the continuance of a mindset that is harmful to women, the same mindset that views women as playthings and chattel. It's the mindset that says that if a woman is not a saint, then she's a whore, and that most women are just pretending to be the former but will show themselves to be the latter given half a chance, and that because of this, women do not deserve to be treated with respect and courtesy. Really, whoever thought up that commercial should be disowned by his mother.

 

Axe is really a good product. I've tested it myself, and the scent lasts twice as long as any other perfume or cologne, sometimes even after clothes have gone through the laundry. The other commercials were a little bit naughty about girls who can't help but follow the scent of a man wearing Axe (I admit, it really smells great!). But this last commercial has really crossed the line.