vendredi 3 février 2012

Getting the Axe (Anarchy for Her)



I must have gone viral. All of a sudden I’m spending part of my day deleting press releases for everything from cars to MP3 file-sharing sites and samples sales, and unsubscribing from the mailing lists of overzealous PR agencies who clearly don’t take the time to identify whose inbox they’re crashing.

But one email did intrigue me enough to investigate. It was from the Buzzman agency, addressed me with the informal French pronoun “tu” and told me they had a gift for me that wasn’t on the market yet. The date and tone were right for the buzz campaign to be about the brand-new Axe Anarchy for Her, and bingo! Axe was indeed among the agency’s clients, which was confirmed by the nice young man writing to me as though we’d been in high school together (like, last month).

I duly received a box containing my canister of Axe Anarchy for Her (and to think the mailman doesn’t even bother to ring when I get a parcel of vintage perfumes samples…). Enclosed was a gaudy flier explaining I was so burning hot I’d been selected for a special mission: unleashing chaos, by virtue of mixing my Axe Anarchy for Her with my male counterpart’s. I was to trawl social networks looking for the guy whose pictogram matched the one stuck on my can (see above). Chaos would ensue when we hooked up at the Anarchy Party on March 1st in Paris.

For the sake of science, I did take a snootful of Axe Anarchy for Her. The scent is a round-up of usual suspects. A soapy rosy floral accord (listed as cyclamen, magnolia, orchid and lily-of-the-valley) crushed between a vivid pear-melon note drenched in syrup and a vanilla and musk base. It’s pretty decent, actually: no better or worse than most pink juices sold in beauty emporia, and sold at a fraction of the price. What’s anarchic about an aquatic fruity floral gourmand I can’t fathom though – it’s certainly less aggressive than the spiky woods cloud most Axe sprays waft. In fact, it’s about as tame as a Hello Kitty crayon case.

Still, much as it pains me to think that some boy expecting a hottie-with-matching-pictogram at the Anarchy Party will be stood up by a woman old enough to have bought the Sex Pistol’s Anarchy in the UK when it came out, I’m afraid couldn’t consider attending, even in a hazmat suit.


19 commentaires:

  1. Funny story! And you know what's extra scary--some of the Axe scents, like Dark Temptation, actually don't smell very different from several niche releases from the last couple of years-- the merge of functional scents and perfumery continues.
    -Marla

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  2. Marla, having no teenage boys in my immediate environment, I'm not exposed much to the stuff, but what you say doesn't surprise me.
    Now, whether niche ideas are copied for mass-market products, or whether the former aren't always necessarily more original than the latter is a matter for debate.

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  3. Hilarious story, Denyse! But come on, we are all young and smoking hot, aren't we? :-)
    And Axe is very effective in their marketing, I would really like to know why they are called Lynx at some markets- copyrights perhaps?
    Best regards, Ela

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  4. Ela, let's just say I'm not into jailbait and leave it at that! Not sure about Axe/Lynx, certainly as you say a matter of copyright. I miss out on all the campaigns since I only watch cable with no adverts, but apparently, yes, they're attention-worthy.

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  5. This brightened my morning. And that poor guy with the atomic love pictogram is missing out.

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  6. Amy, glad it made you smile. And maybe I'm the one missing out, though frankly, if I have to wear an aquatic fruity floral gourmand to find true... booty, my moral fortitude is not up to it.

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  7. You just have made my day with this story. Laugh. Thanks.

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  8. Oh, Denyse! What a GREAT story! Thank tu! :-D I needed a laugh on this dreary, sleety Saturday morning! I wish I lived in Paris - I would go in your place and I would dress either as a dominatrix...or as Andy Griffith's Aunt Bee!

    xo

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  9. Civava, glad to share the laugh over the ether!

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  10. Musette, I would love that (your living in Paris AND your going to the Anarchy Party in such get-ups). I'm neither on FB nor on Twitter, so I'll never know what I'm missing out on!

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  11. This was hilarious! Can't believe you've been victimized by Axe. So sorry.

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  12. March, well, their buzz agency clearly think if you're a blogger you must be a kid... Mind you, now I don't know what to do with that can. I can't even use it as room spray, and any people I know who've got a teenage girl might be none too happy if I dumped it on her!

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  13. Ha, ha - who knows WHO is on their list - it might be an interesting party if everyone turned up (wearing something to their own taste, preferably)! ~~nozknoz

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  14. Nozknoz, not being on social networks I haven't looked in, but I suspect my parcel was part of a viral campaign aimed at the target public. So I seriously doubt anyone would turn up doused in vintage Vol de Nuit!

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  15. lol

    Oh, this was so much fun to read. :)

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  16. Ines, if you can, have a look at the comments on the French side. Mr Buzzman replied! He says he wishes he'd gone to high school with me, the darling boy...

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  17. Oh, I'm off to read the French comments now.
    This is just getting better and better. :D

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