We’ve all seen them. A lot of us found them cringe-worthy and gross. The Axe commercials filled with toxic masculinity, all about getting the girl and getting laid. It appears that Axe has taken all of that criticism to heart and has launched a new and much welcomed campaign with the message, “Find Your Magic.”
When I first came across this commercial, I wanted to shake people while yelling, “Axe’s ‘Find Your Magic‘ is friggin’ great, yo!”
With this campaign, Axe successfully delivers its message that you are magic, no matter who you are. Axe does this by first mocking their old approach of just being plain gross, asking, “Who needs a six pack,” before continuing on to celebrate people in a variety of inclusive forms.
Who are these different types of people? You’ll meet a guy with a big nose, then a guy in a rocking suit, then a guy with the moves, then a guy who’s got the fire, then an amazing vogue dancer rocking heels, then a guy in a wheelchair dancing with a woman, then two guys who are into books, then guys being ballsy, then a guy getting the door, before listing dough, brains, touch, and awesome beard guy with kittens.
Screenshot from Axe “Find Your Magic.”
As Axe transitions between these different types of people, they ask, “Who needs [insert thing here] when you got [insert thing here]?”
The commercial reached its height with, “Who needs some another thing when you got your thing. Now, work on it! Find your magic!”
This commercial is very empowering.
“Find Your Magic” is about what makes you different, celebrating those differences, throwing out fashion norms and body standards, attractiveness coming from being yourself, and mostly throwing the concept of getting laid out the window. It is a commercial sorely needed for Axe’s demographic of men between the ages of 18-24, and the teenage boys they highly influence. This is one of the few commercials targeted towards men that doesn’t make me uneasy and unrepresented. It also causes me to want to drag my 20-year-old and 16-year-old male children by the hand and make them to watch it and absorb it.
Say what you want about Axe products, their new messaging is much needed. I now look forward to seeing what they come up with next. I no longer see Axe as the gross product, both in regards to the assault on my olfactory senses and in regards to a brand that feeds into the worst aspects of toxic masculinity that permeates our culture.
Axe is still gross, but at least their ads aren’t.
