Axe specializes in racy, often offensive ads. Occasionally the men's grooming brand manages to offend Christians, but more often than not it offends women by depicting them as sex-crazed objects at the disposal of horny men.
But Axe is looking to turn the tables -- or at least make sexual objectification an equal opportunity game. Now there is Axe for women, part of a new fragrance collection called Anarchy.
The New York Times reports that the first of two Anarchy ads, intended for American and later international TV viewers, will officially debut Tuesday on Axe's Facebook page. But, as the Internet waits for no one, two videos are already on Youtube.
So we watched them -- and we can't say we're surprised. It's pretty standard Axe fare, but David Kolbusz, a creative director at Bartle Bogle Hegarty (the agency that made the spots) points out to the Times that this time around, both sexes are good-looking.
In past Axe ads, the male actors have been average, schlubby, relatable. The women, of course, have been drop-dead gorgeous model types. They send the message that even average-looking guys can land super hot girls -- and that all guys no matter how attractive should expect their women to look like supermodels.
"The guys can look a little more aspirational in the lead roles without the average guy feeling threatened," Kolbusz put it to the Times.
Sure, because male viewers shouldn't be threatened. Female viewers, on the other hand, should be barraged with images of unattainable beauty and body shape, because they don't feel threatened or pressured to mold their bodies to societal expectations.
That never happens.
WATCH: