The Axe Effect (gag me)

And there you have it. Axe is just so enticing, women revert to their animalistic instincts, beating each other off, running miles just to reach this delicious piece of man meat. I'm actually surprised that they're wearing bikinis. Why not go the whole way and just have them be naked?

Where's that subtler sexism I'm getting so used to now? You know, the kind where there's no doubt in your mind it's sexist, but it's not as easy to convince people about it as you'd think. Not true for this commercial. Axe has brought back the good old sexism we were just getting around to missing: mass numbers of blatantly sexualized women craving just one studly guy. 

The biggest problem with this commercial is it falls into that category of: Why Can't Feminists Ever Take a Joke? I've tried to talk about this commercial with guys. It's always "they're just kidding," or, "it's not like it's real, it's just a fantasy, so what's the problem." 

Here's the problem the way I see it: Of course we're all supposed to know better than to actually buy into the media. But we LISTEN to the media. Guys may take this as a joke, but in reality it IS their fantasy, and the more guys fantasize, the more their expectations of real life are formed to those fantasies, whether they realize it or not. And girls who see this take away the message that boys only like aggressively sexualized girls. ALL GREAT LESSONS TO BE LEARNED. 

So, is this a joke? Am I over analyzing the effects of this commercial? Even if I am, I don't think this goes without consequence. 

Also- just something to think about: Axe is owned by the same company as Dove. Interesting, that this commercial should come from the same company whose main marketing ploy is that of "Pro-Age" and centered around the idea of natural beauty. More on that in a later post...