Sociological Issues in Axe Campaign: Gender, Power, and Society

This essay critically analyzes the Axe advertisement campaign, focusing on the sociological issues it presents, particularly gender inequality and the perpetuation of patriarchal norms. The analysis highlights how the advertisement subtly reinforces the idea of female subordination and promotes heterosexism, overlooking diverse sexual orientations. By examining concepts like patriarchy and feminist theory, the essay argues that such campaigns can negatively influence societal perceptions and undermine progress towards gender equality. It concludes that companies like Axe have a responsibility to promote ethical messaging in their advertisements to foster a more inclusive and equitable society. Desklib provides access to similar essays and study resources for students.

Running head: SOCIOLOGICAL ISSUES IN AXE CAMPAIGN
Sociological Issues in Axe Campaign
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Author Note

1SOCIOLOGICAL ISSUES IN AXE CAMPAIGN
In the contemporary globalized world of today, the private businesses are competing with
each other to gain a dominant position in the market. The more the market share they control, the
bigger will be their customer base. Increasing the number of customers is advantageous for the
businesses as the main aim of such private players is profit generation. Increasing the volume of
sales of their concerned goods and services will lead to a higher generation of revenue and a
greater profit margin. In order to make themselves visible to the potential customers, these
private players rely heavily on advertisement campaigns through the medium of newspapers,
magazines, videos in television and audios in radios. This essay seeks to discuss the
advertisement campaign of the company Axe, a beauty product sold for the male gender. It then
discusses the sociological issues which can be discerned from seeing the video of the Axe beach
advertisement. The main purpose of this essay is to analyze the various sociological issues which
the advertisement campaign for Axe raises.
The advertisement for Axe body shower gel is set on a beach background where a man is
seen to be taking a bath ("Axe Shower Gel, Beach- commercial 2011.mp4", 2018). He applies
the body shower gel on his body and simultaneously it is shown that as the man rubs the body
gel on himself, several nearby women also starts rubbing their body in the same manner.
Moreover, to make the point stronger, as soon as the man stops rubbing the body gel on himself,
the women stops at the same time ("Axe Shower Gel, Beach- commercial 2011.mp4", 2018). It
is at this exact point when the man turns and sees all the women standing behind him, all of their
hands on their chest, their lingerie unhooked ("Axe Shower Gel, Beach- commercial 2011.mp4",
2018).

2SOCIOLOGICAL ISSUES IN AXE CAMPAIGN
The most concerning sociological issue that this advertisement raises is the issue of
inequality. In the twenty first century, the presence of such mindset is quite surprising. It was
immediately after the end of the two World Wars when the international institution of the United
Nations was established (Chesney-Lind, 2018). The United Nations formalized the various
universal human rights guaranteed to every individual irrespective of any discriminations,
especially, any forms of gender or racial discrimination. However, this did not mean that the
women were treated at par with the male gender (Chesney-Lind, 2018). In fact, throughout
human history, the female gender has always been seen as the weaker gender, who needed to be
subordinated under the male gender (Carter, 2015). This is clearly reflected in the scene when
several women are made to move involuntarily, in accordance with the movement of the man.
The very definition of patriarchy emerged from the arrangement of the social structure where the
male is seen to be holding all the power, both in political sphere and the personal social sphere
(Carter, 2015). In such a structure of society, the women only follow the footsteps of the men.
Another sociological concept in the advertisement, which raises an alarm is that of sexual
orientation. The entire advertisement had a subtle, yet strong hint of the sexual attraction
between the male and the females. It tried to show that it is only normal for women to be
attracted to men. This preconceived notion of sexual orientation which is considered to be
socially ethical is sending a wrong message to those who are attracted to people of the same
gender (Lipkin, 2018). The advertisement has an underlying notion of heterosexism, meaning
that it has normalized the attraction of people belonging to different genders, while overlooking
the fact that it is possible for people to be attracted belonging to the same gender.
The feminist wave emerged in the early twentieth century when women started to fight
for the equal treatment of both the genders (Molony & Nelson, 2017). The battle for gaining

3SOCIOLOGICAL ISSUES IN AXE CAMPAIGN
recognition as equal to that of men, has been a long and tiring battle for the women folk. It was
not until the late twentieth century till the domineering males of the society realized the
importance of women and took up the initiatives to protect them and give them the due
recognition. The irony here is that it was again the males who decided that women need
protection. In the contemporary society, the various polities of the world have taken necessary
measures in order to protect their women citizens (Munro, 2013). For this purpose, various laws
have been instituted and policies have been framed. However, the main change needed is in the
society itself. It is the mindset of people which still needs to be revolutionized (Clement, 2018).
The previous vestiges of patriarchy is still in existence in the modern world. People, especially
the males of the society, are unwilling to give up their dominant position in the society and
similarly, several women, those who are conditioned to believe in their subordinate positions, are
unwilling to fight for the change in the social structure (Alexander & Welzel, 2015).
To conclude, it is observed that humanity is still a long way away from achieving any
type of equality between the two genders. This is clearly reflected in the advertisement campaign
of such a reputed company as that of Axe. Axe holds a sizeable share within the consumption
market and it is highly likely that people purchase their product. The advertisement portrayed by
this company will automatically be reaching large number of public. The main motive of
advertisement is to appeal to the subconscious level of the individuals to purchase their product.
However, there is a high chance that besides the product, the underlying notions of the
advertisement might also influence an individual. This will further have grave adverse
repercussions on the society. The little advances made after so many battles and hardships will
be lost if people are influenced by such advertising campaigns. It is the duty and obligation of the
managers of not only the Axe Company, but also of other significant companies, to send the right

4SOCIOLOGICAL ISSUES IN AXE CAMPAIGN
message to the public. People are highly influenced by their surroundings and hence, a conducive
environment will help the individuals to be on the right, morally ethical path.

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References:
Alexander, A. C., & Welzel, C. (2015). Eroding patriarchy: the co-evolution of women's rights
and emancipative values. International Review of Sociology, 25(1), 144-165.
Axe Shower Gel, Beach- commercial 2011.mp4. (2018). YouTube.
Carter, J. (2015). Patriarchy and violence against women and girls. The Lancet, 385(9978), e40-
e41.
Chesney-Lind, M. (2018). Book Review: The Big Push: Exposing and challenging the
persistence of patriarchy.
Clement, G. (2018). Care, autonomy, and justice: Feminism and the ethic of care. Routledge.
Lipkin, A. (2018). Understanding homosexuality, changing schools. Routledge.
Molony, B., & Nelson, J. (Eds.). (2017). Women’s Activism and" Second Wave" Feminism:
Transnational Histories. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Munro, E. (2013). Feminism: A fourth wave?. Political insight, 4(2), 22-25.