Axe’s Super Bowl Ad: A Poignant Smell-Good Tale of “Make Love Not War”

January 17, 2014 by Michael Kasdan 4 Comments

Axe’s Super Bowl ad for its Peace body spray surprises and transcends. In so doing, writes Michael Kasdan, it makes the leap from ad to art.

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Sometimes it feels like we live in a world of opposites that constantly pull in different directions.

There are people that watch the Super Bowl for the action and drama of the game itself. And then there are those that watch the Super Bowl for the commercials.

There are Super Bowl ads that appeal to our baser instincts. (Will Go Daddy and Doritos please stand up?) And then there are Super Bowl ads that hit on more universal issues in a way that tugs at our heart-strings.

There is war, and then there is peace. There is love, and then there is hatred.

Axe’s ad for its Peace body spray combines worldviews that are polar opposites. While at first it presents the unmistakable and seemingly inevitable imagery of war and hatred, it then shows another way. A more hopeful way. A way of love and peace. In so doing, it surprises and it transcends. And it makes the leap from ad to art.

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About Michael Kasdan

Michael Kasdan is currently Director of Special Projects for The Good Men Project. He has held a number of leadership roles at the Good Men Project over time, including Senior Sports Editor, Lead Editor, and Executive Editor. He has helped to develop the Good Men Project's corporate Diversity and Inclusion workshops focused on allyship. Mike is father of two wonderful kids who lives in Maplewood, NJ. Mike's day job is intellectual property lawyer, but his interests and avocations are numerous. He is passionate about education, entrepreneurship and technology, and has served as a board member and advisor on strategic and legal issues to start-up for profit and non-profit companies throughout his career. In the rest of his ever-shrinking spare time, he enjoys focusing his energies on projects and causes that impact the world and our society.

Mike frequently speaks and writes on a variety of topics, including intellectual property, technology, business, social media, sports, mental health, parenting, education, and social justice. He has spoken on a variety of issues in major media networks, including CNN (Headline News), Al Jazeera America, National Public Radio (NPR), and The Canadian Broadcast Company (CBC), and his writings have appeared in well-known publications such as The Huffington Post, Salon, Yahoo! Parenting, Good Morning America, The Daily Dot, and Redbook.

His latest venture focuses on mental health and wellness and authentic leadership in the legal profession. It is called "Lawyering While Human." You can find more information about that on Twitter @law_while_human or on Instagram @zen.mayhem

He enjoys playing basketball, biking, fumbling around on the guitar, creating and singing parody songs, and an on-again-off-again relationship with running. Mike spends entirely too much time on Facebook and can be found (over)sharing and linking on a variety of topics on Twitter @michaelkasdan.

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Dagfari

12 years ago

Click this ad. It’s great, the internet told me so. It says something good about humanity. You’re going to cry and feel good about yourself and then consider using Axe Peace. What kind of bullshit is this? Before you go applauding this company, and saying things like “makes the leap from ad to art” and “It would be real nice if more companies took such a view of men in their advertising”, consider that all adverts are aspirational, not inspirational. All of the praise for the ad can be drilled down to basically two things. First, it’s an ad for… Read more »

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Alyssa Royse

12 years ago

I just wish they’d point out that their product should be used very sparingly, or else it is like an all-out assault on the senses for people with allergies / asthma / sensitivities. Really, it’s a lovely ad, but I just kept hoping for some statement about being gentle to other people’s senses.