Wow. I can't believe that Axe and Dove are both owned by the same parent company (Unilever) yet they express completely different views. The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty is very feminist - it looks to convince women that their true beauty is from within, and its a good attempt to boost or restore self-esteem. But on the other hand, the Axe Effect Campaign is trying to convey the message that attractiveness comes from the spray and not the person himself - in my opinion this is an effective ad method but it still makes the viewers to interpret the wrong message.
This is hypocricy and sexism, and a major contradiction!
Both campaigns are getting their jobs done and they are generating lots of revenue... hmm, is that what this is all about? Money? Sale boosts? Here's an interesting fact: Dove and Axe make up nearly 55% of Unilever's revenue. But here's an even more interesting fact: Unilever went from $42.3 billion in 2003 to $51.2 billion in 2004 (the release of the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty). Do you think maybe it's just a coincidence? Think again! Unilever's launch of the Axe Effect campaign boosted revenue up a combined total of 3.2%. And sales had been increasing at roughly the same rate from 2005 to 2007 - and yet it still generates profits despite the global economy and currencies!
If you want full statistics on Unilever's revenue, go to http://finance.yahoo.com/q/is?s=ul&annual
On the CNN news show The Situation Room, Unilever had told them the Axe commercials were "spoofs" and were "not to be taken seriously"... then why bother make (let alone publish) the commercials!?
I agree Unilever is just set on making money, what I think is that by making the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty they attract women as the consumer, and the Axe effect targets men as the major consumer targeting both clientèle thus increasing Unilever' revenue.
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