Nehorayan 1

Kayla Nehorayan
Professor Jackie Hymes
English 114A
October 17, 2014
Attracting the Male Mind
In this Axe advertisement, one would see both a man, who is good looking, and a
woman, who is stunning, standing near each other. They are both in the same positions, naked.
The man is in the shower and is using Axe shower gel. He seems very calm, relaxed, and
peaceful. On the right side is the woman. Although she is in the same position as the man, her
face features and details of her side are much different; she is in a sexual position. Her face does
not have the calm look the males face does, but rather a sexual look to it. At the bottom of the
page, on the mans side, it says, The cleaner you are, while on the womans side it says, The
dirtier you get. This is obviously referring to the fact that if a man uses Axe shower gel, he will
be able to do dirty things with an attractive woman like the one in the advertisement. The
sexual reference would pull in the male audience to believe that ordinary men like the one in the
advertisement just needs Axe products in order to have intercourse with gorgeous women. There
are many appeals brought into this advertisement, but the promise of sex and intimacy are mainly
shown in this advertisement, with then leading to the promise of domination of the woman and
power over all their surroundings and the environment with the help of Axe shower gel. Axe
advertisements may seem harmless, entertaining, and sometimes hilarious, however they
purposefully attract the attention of men by using the need for sex by portraying naked women
posed or acting in a sexual way and slogans that imply if the viewer uses Axe women would
have the want to have sexual relationships with them. It also shows the need to dominate, which
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all leads back to the main attraction, which is sex. By winning over the womans body and
having dirty sex, the man has dominated the woman and has taken control of her and his own
surroundings.
This advertisement targets many needs in a mans life, but the most important one and
the foundation for the rest is the need for sex. Both, the man and the woman, have their right arm
up in the air holding an item without any clothes, while their eyes are shut. As the man pours the
Axe shower gel across his chest, he had a tranquil and composed quality about him. The woman,
in the same position as the man, has aspects that show a more sexual side. She is holding a can of
whipped cream in her right hand and spraying it all along her chest, covering up her breasts and
her face is posed in a sexual manner. Her mouth is slightly open and looks to be somewhat
moaning, while the mans mouth is closed and seems to be smiling. With the slogan on the
bottom implies if the cleaner you are [with Axe], the dirtier you get. Through this slogan, it
appears that Axe is indicating that if a man uses axe, his sexual desires will be fulfilled with dirty
sex with a woman. The sexual yearnings of men can attract them through an unspoken promise,
which then leads the men to go out and buy Axe shower gel and any other products by Axe.
Bring the picture of the woman showering herself with whip cream, attracts the male eye at once.
Then with the slogan, it proves that what men believed was the illustration of sex actually is. It is
not surprising that this specific item for men push towards the appeal of sex. In Jib Fowles
writing Advertisings Fifteen Basic Appeals, showing sexual actions conventionally works
better on men than women; typically a female figure is offered up to the male reader (19). Just
as the advertisement for Axe shower gel illustrates, a woman is being given to the man for
pleasure. The slogan implies that with the shower gel, women will just fall to the mans feet and
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offer him sex because they used the Axe shower gel. This plays off of the need for sex by
assuring that when using this item, woman will come to them no matter what.
By having sexual relations with a woman in that way from the Axe also promises the
need to dominate. Here is the example of pouring the Axe on ones self and then having the
woman next to him ready to have sex and be dominated. It satisfies the mans craving to be
powerful perhaps omnipotent (Fowles 23). They will have gained the power through the
shower gel to control women and their desires and interest of ones self. After seeing the
advertisement and being told indirectly that using this gel will let you have control of women,
feeds on mens needs for domination. Many men have the idea that they must be in control of
women, so operating with that need also influences the men to go out and buy Axe shower gel.
Men love to know that they are powerful over others and take pride in that, but being above
others and having the power is not the only reasoning for men being attracted to the example of
dominating in this advertisement. Another point of needing to dominate is being able to be
dominate and control ones environment is often thought of as being masculine (Fowles 23).
The advertisement plays off of the assumption that men will always want to try to one up one
another. Men are not only assumed to want control over women, but also their surroundings in
order for them to feel comfortable. By dominating not only other people, but also the
environment surrounding himself shows his masculinity. Men have been known to be in
powerful positions throughout history and the Axe advertisement feeds on those needs by
providing the appearance that a man can control his situation through using Axe. Being able to
illustrate that man that is powerful, controlling, and most importantly masculine, attracts the eyes
of both men who are or strive to be that way. The fact that a woman would basically bow down
to the mans need for sex shows a dominate characteristic and plays into the stereotype of being
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a strong male figure, or in other words manly. If one is not manly, seeing an advertisement like
this would brainwash the idea that using Axe shower gel will not only help them get the girl, but
also become a tough, masculine figure.
Going from this advertisement with the promise of sex and the power of gaining it to
other similar advertisements where the women are pictured at the beck and call of the men using
Axe products, they always play off the two main needs of sex and domination. It has been seen
from Jib Fowles writing of advertisement appeals that men are the main targets for selling the
need for sex and the need to dominate. He states that men are the main humans that have
products being sold to them shown through acts of sexual activity or sexual words. The same
goes for the need to dominate. Domination is a masculine quality and by showing this, men are
attracted to whatever the item is. From the Axe shower gel advertisement itself, it is shown that
men are attracted to the imagery of sexual relationships with a woman and having control of the
women and ones environment. Not only have their advertisements been selling the product
itself, but also by using the ability to show sex and domination, they were also able to satisfy
these two needs. By using and selling these two methods, Axe is able to attract the attention of
men and increase their marketing.







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Work Cited
Axe. Advertisement. Daily News 25 July 2014. Web.
Fowles, Jib. Advertisings Fifteen Basic Appeals. Prentice Hall, 1998. Web.









































Nehorayan 6
Dear Professor Jackie,

My writing process began with going to the past exercises of progression two and getting
some ideas from that, like my thesis. I already had an idea of how I was going to organize it,
so I started an outline that was separated into six parts, one for the introduction, two for
the body paragraphs, and one for the conclusion. From there I just began to pick out
evidence and analysis it. Then I wrote up my intro paragraph, which was a lot easier then I
thought. The part I got stuck at was the conclusion paragraph. It is just very difficult for me
to write a good concluding paragraph without repeating myself, so that took some time to
complete. Halfway through I ended up taking a break and starting other homework and
then I went back to it to finish it with a fresh mind, which helped a lot. My weaknesses were
definitely trying to start writing, but like before, once I start writing, it is hard for me to
stop. For assignment requirements, I feel that I followed the prompt well and so I would
give myself a nine under that. Under content, I feel that I wrote a good quality and amount
of work and so I would give myself a 48. As for organization I would most likely give myself
a 29 because I feel that my paragraphs were well organized. I am very confident that I met
most of the mechanics. There were two grammar errors I did not catch till I met with you,
so I would give myself around an eight.

Thank you,

Kayla Nehorayan