Axe (grooming product)

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Axe, or Lynx, is a brand of male grooming products, owned by the British/Dutch company Unilever.

Lynx's lead product is a deodorant body spray. The brand also includes deodorant sticks, roll-ons, anti-perspirants, aftershaves, shower gels and, more recently, shampoo. The brand is named Axe worldwide except Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, and the United Kingdom, where it is named Lynx.

Contents 1 History 2 Brand formats 3 History 3.1 List of Lynx Deodorants 3.2 Axe Limited Edition chronology 3.3 Axe Shower Gels 4 Controversy 5 Gallery of Commonwealth variants 6 References 7 External links

[edit] History

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Axe was launched in France in 1983 by Unilever. It was inspired by another of Unilever's brands Impulse. Impulse was a fragranced deodorant body spray for women that promised wearers male attention.^{[citation needed]}

Unilever were keen to capitalize on Axe's French success and rolled it out in the rest of Europe from 1985 onwards, later introducing the other products in the range. Unilever were unable to use the name Axe in the UK and Ireland due to trademark problems so it was launched as Lynx.^[1]

The European launch of the deodorant was followed by success in Latin America and moderate impact in Asia and Africa. In the new millennium the brand has launched with great success in the U.S. and Canada. The company has also consolidated its deodorant portfolio by migrating other overlapping male deodorants into the Axe brand such as South Africa's Ego brand.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Brand formats

Although Axe's lead product is the fragranced aerosol deodorant bodyspray, other formats of the brand exist. Within underarm care the following are available: Deodorant aerosol bodyspray, Deodorant stick, Deodorant roll-on, Antiperspirant aerosol spray (Axe Dry), and Antiperspirant stick (Axe Dry).

In 2009 the brand launched an 8-centimeter container called the Axe Bullet.^[2] It is intended to be portable so that it can be carried in the pocket and used whenever and wherever needed.

The brand has also extended into other areas such as shower gels, aftershaves and Eau de Toilette, skin care, shampoo and hairstyling products. Failed extensions include Barbershop^[3] and razors.

[edit] History

From its launch, the yearly fragrance variant of has played a key part in the success of the brand, by offering something new each year. The type of fragrance variants have evolved over time. From 1983 until about 1989, the variant names were descriptions of the fragrances and included Musk, Spice, Amber, Marine and Oriental.^{[citation needed]}

From 1990 until 1996 geographic names were used such as Africa, Alaska, Java, Nevada and Inca. From 1996 to 2002 Axe took inspiration from Calvin Klein fragrances (also owned by Unilever at that time), using the same perfumer, Anne Gottlieb, to develop the fragrances to launch variants such as Dimension, Apollo, Dark Temptation, Gravity, and Phoenix.^{[citation needed]}

From 2003 Axe advertisements portrayed various ways the products supposedly helped men attract women. In 2003 the advertising for the Pulse fragrance showed how it supposedly gave geeky men the confidence to dance to get women. This was followed by Touch, Unlimited,^[4] Clix^[5] and in 2007 Vice^[5] was marketed on a theme of making "nice" women become "naughty".

In 2008 a chocolate-themed body spray, Dark Temptation, was released. This spray did not smell like chocolate, but claimed that it made the user "as irresistible as chocolate".^[6]

[edit] List of Lynx Deodorants

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Axe's list of yearly body-spray variants is as follows. Limited edition or short-lived variants are listed in a following table.

[edit] Axe Limited Edition chronology

Axe also launches limited edition variants from time to time that may be on sale for a few months or over a year.^{[citation needed]}

Year	Variant Name	Description	Notes
1983	Amber,[7] Musk,[8] Spice[9]	Variant name is a description of fragrance.	The first three variants that Axe launched with in France. Discontinued apart from Musk
1985	Amber, Musk (Moschus in Germany), Spice	Variant name is a description of fragrance.	In this year these three variants were used to launch the brand in UK.[1] Musk is still available in Argentina, Brazil, France and Germany.
1987	Oriental[10]	Variant name is a description of fragrance.	This was the first 'new' variant that Axe launched and started a strategy of a yearly new variants[citation needed]. Discontinued
1989	Marine[11]	Variant name is a description of fragrance.	Still available in the Netherlands, Austria, France, Belgium, Spain, Argentina and Brazil.
1990	Tempest [12]		Discontinued
1991	Mirage [13]		Discontinued
1992	Nevada [14]	Variant name is taken from geography	Discontinued
1993	Java [15]	Variant name is taken from geography	Discontinued
1994	Alaska [16]	Variant name is taken from geography	Discontinued - still available in Germany
1995	Africa [17]	Variant name is taken from geography.	The most popular variant of Axe, marketed as Kilo in North America and Native in Brazil. Africa is the most popular variant in the UK and still is for 14 years.
1996	Inca [18]	A warm spicy fragrance	Discontinued
1997	Atlantis [19]		Still available in some countries
1998	Apollo[20]		Discontinued
1999	Voodoo[21]		Caused some controversy with Christian groups who objected to the use of black magic imagery[citation needed]. Limited edition version released in UK to cover "Voodoo Eclipse" Dance Event marking the Solar Eclipse in the UK in 1999
2000	Phoenix[22]		Limited edition version released to cover "Phoenix Legends" Dance Event in Ibiza in 2000.
2001	Gravity[23]		The advertising featured a man falling to earth
2002	Dimension[24]
2002	Apollo, Kilo, Orion, Phoenix, Tsunami, Voodoo	Axe launched in U.S.[1]	This is the line up that Axe launched with in U.S.
2003	Pulse	A European variant suggests that it gives geeks added confidence so they can pull off crazy dance moves to impress girls and be irresistible.[25]	Used the "Make Luv" dance track which reached number 1 in UK.
2003	Essence	A US variant	Used TV advertising that showed two sides to a man's relationship with women
2004	Touch		The TV advert features women getting more and more turned on[26]
2005	Unlimited		Mimics the Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon Chinese kungfu film.[4]
2006	Click or Clix		This variant is portrayed as making men so attractive to women they will need a clicker to keep score of the number of women who check them out. Uses Nick Lachey in the advertising who is out-scored by a hotel worker who wears Clix. Axe gave away free clickers to promote the scent. The Lynx version uses Ben Affleck in the advertising instead of Nick Lachey.[5]
2007	Vice	Advertising implies that it will turn 'nice girls naughty' thanks to the forbidden fruits in the fragrance. The phrase "virgo in flagrante delicto" is printed in mirrored text on the spray, body wash, and deodorant stick.	Uses a Morgan Freeman look-a-like in the advertising that mimics the style of a crime film.
2008	Dark Temptation	A chocolate-smelling fragrance - advertising implies that because women like chocolate, they will find men who smell of chocolate irresistible	Advertising features a man who turns into chocolate when he sprays himself with Axe. He then goes on to be eaten by a series of women.[6]
2009	Instinct	The scent includes cardamom, amber and atlas cedarwood to produce a spicy scent of leather.	The advertising campaign features a caveman who sprays the fragrence on himself and becomes irresistible to women. The tag line is "No one can resist a man in leather"[27]
2008	Bullet	A smaller version deodorants in UK, including Lynx Vice Bullet, Lynx Dark Temptation Bullet and Lynx Instinct Bullet.
2008	Thai Massage		Shower Gel Only
Year	Limited Edition Name	Description	Notes
2007	3	A pack of two cans of Axe. One is called 1, the other is called 2. Both should be sprayed together to make a new smell.
2007	Recover(y)	Citrus Scent.	One of the 3 scents released by AXE/LYNX under LIMITED EDITION. Based on a shower gel.Comes in shower gel and bodyspray.
2007	Shock	Ice Mint Scent.	One of the 3 scents released by AXE/LYNX under LIMITED EDITION. Based on a shower gel.Comes in bodyspray and shower gel.
2007	Boost	Warm Guava Scent	One of the 3 scents released by AXE/LYNX under LIMITED EDITION.Comes in bodyspray and shower gel, shower gel more common though.
2008	DRY Sharp Focus	An anti-perspirant, not available as deodorant body-spray. Only available as anti-perspirant body spray, deodorant stick and roll-on. Fresh Mint Scent.	Advertising features a man that stays focused when he sprays himself with Axe. Is only available in DRY, not normal.
2008	Fever	A fragrance infused with Brazilian hot mud and red dragon fruit extract	Based on a shower gel.
2009	Proximity: Amber, Bergamot, Vetiver	3 scents under the Proximity name. Lighter, more sophisticated fragrances targeted at less juvenile men. Sold at a higher price than regular Axe range.Comes in bodyspray only.[citation needed]
2009	Summer	Is a light variant	Only availible for summer 2009

[edit] Axe Shower Gels

Year	Name	Description	Notes
2005	Re-Load	A blue coloured shower gel.
2006	Thai Massage	A shower gel described as containing Bali Sea Salt and Tiger Balm
2006	Boost	Warm Guava Scent
2006	Recover	Citrus Scent
2007	Speed	A shower gel that contained both a shower gel and a moisturiser
2007	Shock	Icy Mint Scent
2008	Fever	A fragrance infused with Brazilian hot mud and red dragon fruit extract
2008	Snake Peel

[edit] Controversy

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Adverse publicity has been generated by accusations of:

• Sexist and degrading advertising, and contradictory messages versus Dove marketing, which is also owned by Unilever.^[28]
• Being seen to encourage sexual promiscuity^[29]
• Being banned in some schools because of the health risks^[30]
• Potential for solvent abuse and subsequent death amongst young people:^[31] On January 12, 2008 a 12 year old boy in Derbyshire, England died in hospital five days after collapsing at his home. The medical coroner ruled that he had suffered from cardiac arrhythmia and died from heart failure as a result of excessive inhalation of Lynx.^[32][33]

[edit] Gallery of Commonwealth variants

Lynx Click (new style)	Lynx Unlimited (new style)	Lynx Vice (new style)	Lynx Touch (new style)
Lynx Africa (new style)	Lynx Pulse (new style)	AXE Recover (Limited Edition)	AXE Dark Temptation
Lynx Boost.JPG LYNX Boost (Limited Edition)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official Axe website
• Official Lynx website
• Selection of the best Axe/Lynx advertising at Adbrands.net

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