Project 3

Axe Touch Commercial

Synopsis of the Commercial

From the beginning of time men have always been illustrated as the ones in charge, very dominant and in control. This 30 second Axe commercial demonstrates that type of gender stereotype quite well. It begins with a good looking man entering what looks to be a bus station and there are about 4 or 5 women there who have seem to notice him. Throughout the commercial the man does everyday things such as open a book, unzip his briefcase, and twist dials on a radio and when he does these actions, the women's clothes begin to unravel and they are turned on.

Men Have Power Over Women

With every bit of movement made by the male in the commercial besides walking he is clearly in full control of the women. With just lifting one finger he is moving even something as insignificant as a drop of sweat (see figure 1) This shows the clear, and not so subtle authority or dare i say domination men can have over women.

The commercial also shows the man turning up the volume on a radio and when he does that the nipples of another women begin to get hard. The woman here is being treated as an object that the male controls. That ties into what Jean Kilbourne said when discussing objectification, "Turning a human being into a thing, an object, is almost always the first step toward justifying violence against that person."(Kilbourne pg. 556) In today's society there are still women of all ages who are abused not only physically but also sexually by using this type of authority that this "innocent commercial" is displaying.

Figure 1: Man runs his finger down the map, causing women to sweat.

Figure 2: Buttons of the women shirt are busting open

Consent

Ironically, the name of the axe product this commercial is promoting is called touch. The man in the commercial never actually touches the women but by touching items around him causes the women to react in a sexual manner. Insinuating that men who get this product can get women to do anything that they want without asking.

In (Figure 2) this lady's shirt is ripped open when the guy opens his book. He opens the book slowly and notices her shirt begins to unravel and then he closes the book. He looks up and gives her a suggestive smirk and opens the book causing her buttons to pop off and show her cleavage.

Unfortunately, this commercial is promoting not only that it's okay for men not to get a woman's consent, but also it's showing that woman must be submissive to a man and allow them to do whatever it is that they please. Kilbourne mentions this in her article "Two Ways a Women Can Get Hurt" she comments, "Men are also encouraged to never take no for an answer. Ad after ad implies that girls and women don't really mean "no" when they say it, that women are only teasing when they resist a men's advances." (Kilbourne pg.548)

Conclusion

Imagine sitting in your living room with your family and this commercial comes on. What would your child think? We can all agree that they practically just watched soft core porn. Sadly, there are so many commercials that advertise with pornographic images. Kilbourne says, "The main goal, as in pornography, is usually power over another, either by the physical dominance or preferred status of men or what is seen as the exploitative power of female beauty and female sexuality."(Kilbourne pg.546). This Axe commercial does just that. It plants a seed in young boy's minds that they can control women or touch women inappropriately without any repercussions. Also this commercial conveys the wrong message to young women. The commercial makes it seem like it is okay for men to do these obscene things and the young girls shouldn't say something about it because it's advertised so much it becomes normalized. Moving forward we can only hope that media will stray away from this type of advertising. Teaching our children to respect one another and their boundaries.

References

Kilbourne, Jean. "Three Ways a Woman Can Get Hurt." Rereading America. Eds. Colombo, Cullen, Lisle. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's P. 2019.

"Axe Touch." Youtube, uploaded by AdverTown, 8 Nov 2012, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0efeGPNNjk0.

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