Monday, May 3, 2010

ok so i saw this axe commercial with my mom last night.
first of all, i don't understand the intention of the commercial to begin with. it's not funny, and it doesn't really make sense.
more importantly, i don't really understand how this could be seen as anything but racist.
an attractive black waitress is bussing a table and invites the camera (aka the white male gaze personified) to a party at her apartment. right after she says her address, he notices a white blonde woman on the phone in the booth across from him. she's ending a phone conversation with something along the lines of "yea, i'm fine with seeing other people too", and smiles at the camera.
the screen flashes "what was the address"? and then "wake up and stay alert".
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6 comments:

  1. grumblecakesMay 3, 2010 at 3:44 PM

    While the ad is not funny and rather dumb (as are all AXE ads and products), I'm not really ready to label it racist.

    First: while the majority of these ads are aimed at the white male between the ages of 14-34, the camera technically(!) has no race We don't really receive any indication what the race of the person might be. For all we know, both girls could be really into Eskimos.

    Second: I would actually applaud the ad for featuring women of both races and for the camera clearly being interested in both of them. Regardless of the race of the camera, there are some multi-racial sparks flying, which is a wonderful thing.

    Three: The ad ends on two notes: Staring at the white girl and "What was the address?" The camera view wants to know the address. He is interested in making it to that party. In fact, that's kind of the point of the ad. Even with the gaze at the white woman, you're left with "Oh shit, how am I going to meet that girl at the party?"

    That's just my take. We can all probably make an educated guess about the race of the camera, but even then it is a little irrelevant because the camera is clearly interested in both women ("What's the address" + the stare at the white woman). If anything, the ad just has the very juvenile message of "Dude, if you wear axe, women of all races will be into you."

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  2. TronMay 3, 2010 at 6:05 PM

    wow thats quite an analysis.
    i'm still not convinced its not racist though.
    i personally didn't get the impression that the camera was interested in both women. there was no indication that the camera even acknowledged the waitress' advance. also notice that, even when she's not featured, the white woman is constantly in the frame, as if he is watching her out of the corner of his eye.
    as soon as the waitress walks away, the camera focuses on the white woman. it doesn't pan after the waitress to signal that he might pursue her to repeat the address. i mean, she's a waitress, so clearly she works in the establishment and i'm sure getting her to repeat the address would really not be a problem.
    what i got from the "what was the address" seemed sarcastic like, oh what was she saying, i wasn't even listening now that this pretty blonde girl is looking at me? if he had wanted the address, don't you think that the camera would have panned longingly after her? it felt like his gaze had shifted completely to favor the (previously silent) white woman now that he knows she's available (and obviously dtf, from that smile).

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  3. Mandy's ThoughtsMay 3, 2010 at 6:51 PM

    If you look at the other adds from this campaign the message is much clearer...with their new body wash you will be refreshed enough in the morning to remember the pertinent details to hook up with MULTIPLE women. Chauvinistic...yes, but I don't think it's necessarily racist either.....see below

    http://www.theaxeeffect.com/axe-campaigns/axe-rise/Circle-of-Friends

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  4. grumblecakesMay 3, 2010 at 10:11 PM

    I understood the "wake up and stay alert" line to be kind of the point of the ad. If he was awake and alert, he would have gotten the address of that girl. It's kind of like a shitty logic problem. "Oh, that girl was hitting on me and she invited me somewhere. But I was distracted by another girl who was hitting on me. If I could wake up and stay alert, I would have that girl's address. Ergo, AXE."

    I suppose another way to think about it to just change the races of everyone in the ad. The camera and the seated girl are black, the waitress is white. I couldn't see any way that's racist either. Same with a Chinese camera, Jewish waitress, and Brazilian seated girl.

    For me, the technically race-less camera, combined with multi-racial flirting, and the later regret (What's her address?) make the ad seem pretty harmless. I do agree with Mandy that the ad is more chauvinistic than anything, but unfortunately they have to resort to stereotypical portrayals of men to sell their shit bodyspray.

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  5. TronMay 3, 2010 at 11:30 PM

    my problem is that i can't view this commercial in a vacuum.
    this is the first time i have seen a woman of color in an axe ad, so i was immediately skeptical of her portrayal. especially considering how many of axe's commercials feature flocks of majorly white women throwing themselves at white men. like the one mandy just posted, all white (or caucasian looking) women. clearly, axe favors white women.
    in the same vein, i don't really assume the camera is raceless, considering most of the axe ads i've seen seem to target and feature white men.
    take the "chocolate man" commercial, which is all sorts of racist and sexist to begin with. white dude sprays himself with "dark temptation" and turns into chocolate. he is then mobbed by exclusively white women for the remainder of the commercial. there's a whole lot more to untangle in this ad but my point is: sexism and racism are inextricable and, considering axe's track record with blatant misogyny and somewhat covert racism, i find myself particularly critical of their ability to produce anything but ignorance.

    something about this ad just doesn't sit right with me. and i really shouldn't be putting this much thought into an axe commercial during finals.

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  6. AnonymousSeptember 4, 2010 at 1:32 AM

    LMAO...The ENTIRE reason I found this page was because I thought the commercial was definitely Racist and purposefully offensive and wanted to see if anyone else was seeing what I was seeing.

    The Black woman is attractive yes....but they purposely had her hair looking like crap: coarse aka (racist term)nappy, short cut uneven, blond growing out. WHO LOOKS LIKE THAT IN COMMERCIALS? Do you think if the Director told her to style her own hair for a national commercial she would have shown up looking like that? NO. She would have went to a stylist and rocked the same style as Michelle Obama, Taraji Henson, Ciara ect.

    If the commercial were not bias the woman sitting in the booth would have been black as well. Or the busser/waitress would have been just a plain woman. But they significantly had not just a Black woman, but a Black woman with wild, messy, undone, hair. While the White woman sits with her long blond hair with not 1 strand out of place.

    Interesting how the commercial comes out after a nationally known story of a certain host who got disciplined for the comment "Nappy Headed Hoes". Which doesn't define the commercial, but proves the lack of sensitivity of not only current events but lifelong controversies. Something Marketers have to take in consideration (Business 101). So either AXE's marketing department is full of dumb asses or it was purposeful.

    Stephanie.Haynes13@gmail.com

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