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1

Did you miss Hillary's button?

Posted by UnoriginalAndrew | February 12, 2008 5:23 PM
2
I’m not sure what it’s supposed to mean in this context. Axe makes women swoon for stinky man-scent?

What, are you saying that Obama smells?

Racist! Racist!

Posted by tsm | February 12, 2008 5:24 PM
3

I dunno; I only use sandlewood oil.

Posted by Fifty-Two-Eighty | February 12, 2008 5:24 PM
4

Every scent Axe pimps smells like moron.

Posted by Mr. Poe | February 12, 2008 5:25 PM
5

Haha! You're right, Axe, women are stupid.

Posted by lorax | February 12, 2008 5:28 PM
6

Is it really that hard to understand the joke behind that ad? I understand the feminist reaction to the Axe advertising campaign - but why the playing dumb?

Posted by Ed | February 12, 2008 5:29 PM
7

Yeah, @1 is dead on. Another mindless Obama smear attempt by ECB...

Posted by Anon | February 12, 2008 5:35 PM
8

That's actually fairly sophisticated humor for an Axe ad.

Posted by shub-negrorath | February 12, 2008 5:35 PM
9

Maybe Hillary is supporting Obama because she realizes women need to reward his pro-choice loyalty to NARAL. If NOW and Hillary's backstabbing attacks on Obama's 'present' votes succeed, other legislators in swing districts will either lose their seats by being stridently pro-choice, or they will give in and chip away at abortion rights to appease their right-leaning constituents. They'll never be willing to coordinate with NARAL again if this is what it gets them.

Hillary is thinking, "Axe stinks, but what really stinks is the damage it would do to choice if I were to win like this!"

Posted by elenchos | February 12, 2008 5:37 PM
10

It's fucked up is what it is. Isn't it illegal to make money off of someone else's image without explicit permission?

And Axe does stink.

Posted by Carollani | February 12, 2008 5:38 PM
11

Axe uses slicker marketing than a product that could be considered its predecessor. Notice how they say, "Spray in your hot-zones?" There was a product in the '70s that never made it past the test market called Foul Balls.

Axe, for all its faults, can at least claim that it uses a more tasteful - if not more subtle - approach.

By the way, does anyone over the age of 18 actually use this product?

Posted by Bauhaus | February 12, 2008 5:41 PM
12

Ok, so this product exists to help men be more attractive to, or less repulsive to women. So they market it as such. Is there really a problem here? That add is fucking funny and thats a first for Axe adds, admittedly.

Posted by longball | February 12, 2008 5:46 PM
13

I use it because my wife likes the smell.

She doesn't knock me down and fuck me every time I walk into the room or anything, but she likes it better than Old Spice or Speed Stick.

Posted by Ben | February 12, 2008 5:47 PM
14

I have to agree with #8. I expect Axe's sexism to be rubbing-its-balls-in-my-face obvious. You're abandoning your gimmick, Axe! Too subtle! To stay true to your brand, Hillary should be stipped down to her skivvies and rubbing herself of Barack (and if you're disturbed by that image, that is exactly the feeling many of us ladies get from the idea all of Axe's ads).

Also, Will, I'm pretty sure Erica noticed the button, hence the "Axe makes the ladies abandon their silly ambitions?" comment. She's just trying to say their campaign is stupid.

Posted by exelizabeth | February 12, 2008 5:47 PM
15

@ 14 - I don't think that line wasn't in the original post.

Posted by UnoriginalAndrew | February 12, 2008 6:01 PM
16

I dunno, the point seems clear enough to me. A bunch of people are sitting around a conference table working on ideas for the next cheesy ad. Someone says, "Hey, how about Hillary wearing an Obama button? We do that, and our ad buys will be multiplied manifold by the gullible and easily outraged, like that ECB bird at The Stranger, and they will promote our product in a way that paid advertising never could."

It's not *that* hard to understand, is it?

Posted by also | February 12, 2008 6:06 PM
17

yeah, i really don't get the joke they are trying to make...

Posted by konstantConsumer | February 12, 2008 6:22 PM
18

Ugh. Plus, it's a shitty product.

Posted by Boomer in NYC | February 12, 2008 6:26 PM
19

@15, yeah it was. I read this the second it was posted and that line made me laugh.

Posted by aduous | February 12, 2008 6:30 PM
20

Stop playing dumb Erica. You "get it" you just don't like it (I don't like it either).

Posted by Jason | February 12, 2008 6:52 PM
21

Jason @ 20:

She just posted a commercial advertisement as news and mentioned the company name several times in the process. Many people, including me, would never have seen this ad or even been aware of the ad campaign without ECB pushing it as news. What, exactly, do you think she's "playing" at?

Posted by also | February 12, 2008 6:59 PM
22

It's good to see Hilly working. I think she's found her calling as a spokes model. It's very important to have a back up plan (especially when your not qualified for your "dream job". I was afraid she might not have any talents. (Though I pity the teenage boy who buys her product to score with "hot" chicks like her... That's one messed up kid.)

Posted by You_Gotta_Be_Kidding_Me | February 12, 2008 7:00 PM
23

That's sure some hilariously sexist humor. Obviously Barack Obama will make it to the presidency before a woman, this is the United States after all. I refuse to vote for a candidate just because Urban Outfitters sells a t-shirt telling me to do so. Obama is no different or revolutionary than any other politician. He promotes equality in one sentence, and uses his christianity to define the word "marriage" as a word only heterosexuals are privileged to in the next. Who's sucking republican dick now? He might be better looking to young people and lost republicans, but his wishy washy comments towards the truly disenfranchised people of this country hold no sex appeal for me. Maybe Hillary should start wearing axe. To play with the big boys i guess you have to stink like they do.

Posted by Jean | February 12, 2008 7:09 PM
24

DOMA?

Posted by elenchos | February 12, 2008 7:17 PM
25

Erica, you do really seriously need to get laid.

Posted by Mike in MO | February 12, 2008 7:48 PM
26

"Marriage has got historic, religious and moral content that goes back to the beginning of time, and I think a marriage is as a marriage always has been, between a man and a woman." - Hillary Clinton

Look they're both wrong about same sex marriage. They both could be worse. They're both better than what we've got now. Painting Obama as as anti-gay is BS. Where doess Clinton come out for same sex marriage?

Posted by daniel | February 12, 2008 7:55 PM
27

It's viral marketing. They're counting on bloggers like ECB to have a reaction and to give their ad free placement. (Or it's undisclosed paid advertising masquerading as content.)

Posted by Curmudgeon | February 12, 2008 8:39 PM
28

you're correct that they are both wrong indeed. you are also correct that each would be a vast improvement. just for the record though Clinton did claim that she has since "evolved" from her views in that statement and said that she wouldn't stand in the way of New York passing a same sex marriage law. But the Axe ad still sucks.

Posted by 33stylus | February 12, 2008 8:39 PM
29

you're correct that they are both wrong indeed. you are also correct that each would be a vast improvement. just for the record though Clinton did claim that she has since "evolved" from her views in that statement and said that she wouldn't stand in the way of New York passing a same sex marriage law. But the Axe ad still sucks.

Posted by 33stylus | February 12, 2008 8:39 PM
30

I'm with Number 13. I wear it because IT WORKS. It really does! Haters have no idea....alls i gotsta say is TRY IT.

Posted by Mark. | February 12, 2008 8:53 PM
31

If you look really close - in the background Obama is down to his underwear and advancing with swaying pole.

It is a hoot. I will buy a gallon on payday and bathe in it. And I suspect Obama smells a lot like roses and lavendar close up. Old Chicago gentleman stuff to mask the pig killing odors.

Report back later. Just a on the record fact - smellS are the BASIS OF SEXUAL ATTRACTION. Ask any male about the appealing smell of ready to fuck very heated cunt.

Or ask gay men about sweat, spit, pit, testicle sack and cum smells.

Posted by Oscar Wilde | February 12, 2008 9:01 PM
32

so, seriously, what is the joke on this ad? i really don't get it.

Posted by konstantConsumer | February 12, 2008 9:19 PM
33

Axe ads are usually along the lines of,
1. guy sprays self
2. passing women are driven crazy by the scent and pounce on said guy out of lust

And all the variations of that.
The image has hillary wearing a obama for 2008 button. The implication being that Obama, on wearing Axe, has got even Hillary (a woman driven crazy with lust by the scent) supporting him.


Is it really that freakin complex?

Oh and side note, y'know the bill for retroactive immunity for telecoms that was up for vote? Mcain voted for immunity like a good republican, Obama voted against pardoning it and Hillary didn't show up to vote.

Posted by arandomdude | February 12, 2008 9:52 PM
34

Much as I hate that shit, and want to beat down every adult male I come across wearing it (teenage boys I want to gently explain that showering frequently will have a better effect on girls), I must say that this ad is witty, and no doubt the first wittty ad Axe has ever put out.

Posted by Gitai | February 12, 2008 10:01 PM
35

Speaking as someone who is friends with one of the more insidious marketers out there, I can pretty much tell you what he'd say:

1) You're talking about the ad.
2) If you don't like it, you're not the target market.

Posted by NapoleonXIV | February 12, 2008 10:13 PM
36

I always thought Axe ads were peurile, but as a teenage male, they appealed to my penis, not my brain. Besides, I think a lot of the Axe scents smell good. Maybe that makes me a fool in the eyes of #4, #18, and #34. I don't use it any more because it lasts for approximately 15 minutes. Aspen is the way to go these days.

Posted by Greg | February 12, 2008 10:29 PM
37

@9 is right.

And, actually, how you smell is more impacted by diet, your own pheremones, and stress. You're better off taking a shower every day or two and not changing your shirt too often, in terms of what works with women.

Most guys, though, aren't as good at smelling women's underlying scents, sadly.

Posted by Will in Seattle | February 12, 2008 10:35 PM
38

DO NOT EVER spray that stuff on your butthole. This advice at no charge.

Posted by Clint | February 12, 2008 10:55 PM
39

um, you guys have never heard of obama's chief narrator? his name is david axelrod. well here's an article to help you understand political humor: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/01/magazine/01axelrod.t.html

really, ecb? this is surprising from such a close follower of this campaign.

Posted by you're kidding me | February 12, 2008 11:45 PM
40

The boys in the Axe ads are hot.

Posted by alan | February 13, 2008 1:24 AM
41

I think we all get it, and it is sexist and vile. As a woman, hillary is powerless to resist the erotic powers of that shitty body spray, and supports obama, presumably the man who wears it in this scenario.

Posted by Alphonse | February 13, 2008 6:59 AM
42

I have a confession; in a moment of weakness I bought a bottle of that Axe crap three years ago (?) I still have it and use it as a room deodorizor in the bathroom when I have an...unpleasant passing shall we say.

It DOES cover that sort of odor up. I would not wear it but to cover up the smell of post drinking shits; it works pretty well!

Posted by Andrew | February 13, 2008 7:31 AM
43

I like Axe. Its smell reminds me of drunken date-rape.

Posted by gross | February 13, 2008 9:39 AM
44

@30: WOAH WOAH WOAH, I did NOT say that it "works." I said that my wife, the only female whose opinions on such matters particularly concern me, finds the smell comparatively inoffensive.

Posted by Ben | February 13, 2008 9:49 AM
45

Last night, after burning through some reruns of The Office, TBS showed its new "10 Items or Less" show, an Office mimic set in a grocery store. Was funnier than I'd expected, and neither the writing nor acting came off as all that forced, though I was probably swayed by a pretty good Human Giant cameo. But after a commercial break and a big bottom-of-screen banner from Axe, two characters on the show started making a big deal about trying to persuade a female FDA official for some deal at their supermarket. They walked in front of an Axe spray kiosk and started pimping the product in the most abrupt, not-part-of-the-script kind of way I've ever seen. Does TBS do this sort of thing all of the time? Is Tyler Perry's House of Payne sponsored by Jesus?

Truth be told, I found a flavor of Axe deodorant that barely smells at all and works better for me than pretty much any dirt-cheap deodorant out there. The spray stuff is a beating, though, no thanks.

Posted by Sam M. | February 13, 2008 11:04 AM
46

I use vintage Old Spice in the white bottle and the only thing it attracts are pudgy cougars and bears.

Posted by gregg | February 13, 2008 11:08 AM
47

I threatened my stepsons with bodily harm if they didn't stop befouling my bathroom with that disgusting stuff. It makes my nose hairs curl and my eyes water. I'd rather smell straight ammonia.

As to the ad, I think it's stupid, albeit relatively innocuous. Mildly offensive, but certainly less offensive than the product itself.

What I do find offensive is the little coterie of exceedingly voluble posters who follow Erica around and attack anything she posts as if she were the spawn of Satan. You people give me the fucking willies. Get another hobby, willya? You're like some kind of crazed slogstalkers.

Posted by Geni | February 13, 2008 12:33 PM

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