The New York Times reports that Axe will sponsor a club called Dune in Southampton, New York, for the entire summer season, temporarily changing the name to "Axe Lounge." Though there have been brand-sponsored party locales before, like the Esquire Apartment or the Polaroid Beach House in Malibu, this will be one of the first times a brand has taken over a nightclub for an entire season.

"Axe is all about the mating game, and the best place for a mating game is at a nightclub," said Michael Heller, the founder and chief executive of Talent Resources, which is working with Axe. The club will feature the Axe logo on the D.J. booth, menu, and valet tickets. There will also be an Axe products in the bathrooms and an Axe-themed drink (because who wouldn't want a deodorant-themed alcoholic beverage?) Axe is paying Dune's owners, but will not share any of the club's profits.

Susan Linn, the director of The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, said of the project:

An Axe nightclub is emblematic of the troubling phenomenon of the current 360-degree marketing strategy to immerse us in brands and branding every waking moment and to blur the lines between marketing and every other aspect of our lives.

The consumer advocacy group has complained about Axe's sexist advertising in the past, which as Linn reminds us, exposes the hypocrisy of their parent company Unilever. The company also owns Dove, and released ads promoting healthy body image for girls as they were degrading women in Axe's advertising.

Mike Dwyer, the marketing director for Axe, said that the purpose of the nightclub is to "drive relevancy and image credentials, and really get the brand right, squarely in front of where the guys are." But, most guys go where the ladies are when clubbing, and unfortunately we can get the Axe experience at pretty much every club in the country.

Axe Body Products Puts Its Brand on the Hamptons Club Scene [The New York Times]

Earlier: Can We Just Stop This Craptacular Body Wash Madness Please?
Women Criticize Ads Directed At Women
Dove Vs. Axe: Is Unilever Hipocritical

First, what is a "plus size"? Forever 21's wretchedly named line Faith 21 (launching tomorrow) offers size XL and XXL. How… inclusive? Target's Pure Energy line will go up to size 30, which seems more like they're making an effort. (The article doesn't mention them, but Alloy.com goes up to size XXXL or 25; Torrid offers sizes 12-26.)

Second, CNN reports that the rate of obesity among adolescents age 12-19 has more than tripled in the last 20 years. So is accommodating plus-sized customers actually reaching out to overlooked teens? Or just a savvy business decision?

Third, and perhaps most important: Do plus-sized lines promote fat? MeMe Roth, president of the organization National Action Against Obesity thinks so: "When you look at the human cost, what we're doing is we're on the Titanic and rather than forcing our children into the lifeboat, we're telling them to join the band. Worrying about fashion rather than worrying about the food is a horrible message that we're sending these kids."

Some would argue that cool clothing only coming in smaller sizes could be a motivator for teens to lose weight. And let's face it: We're talking about two cheap brands; most upscale fashion designers don't produce beyond a size 10 (even though the average woman is a size 14) because that's not their vision — that's not the customer they want. They want the super-slim models and actresses, and that is their prerogative.

Plus-sized model Emme argues: "I completely disagree that these lines are promoting obesity. You need to wear clothes to look cool at school. You need to wear clothes to be present in life. And when everybody else has fashion, you should, too." She also says: "Could you imagine taking away all of the clothes for thinner women and saying, 'Sorry, you're too thin. You can't have that.' It doesn't make sense."

And maybe there is change in the air? Ben Barry, a 26-year-old PhD candidate currently a visiting student at Harvard Business School, not only has a modeling agency which represents women of all sizes (Dove came to him for the "Real Beauty" campaign) but is conducting research at Harvard that could "reshape" the modeling industry. Barry says:

"I learned that there was this narrow criteria of who was considered pretty. I was pointing out models who I thought were phenomenal and had great personality and energy. But everyone would just shake their head and smile. They'd say their hips are too wide, or they weren't tall enough."

Of his research, Barry explains:

"The idea is to see how women react to models who represent their size, age, and cultural background versus models who represent an ideal of Western beauty […] When I looked in the journals of marketing there was really nothing that addressed this. Right now it's just an argument that you can reach a wider audience. I'm trying to prove that with hard numbers."

Meanwhile, CNN speaks to a "full-figured teen" at a F21 in Manhattan, where the plus size stuff is not available yet. She's looking forward to it, though. She says: "I tried on something earlier that was totally cute and it did not fit my breast size, which is really frustrating, because I liked it."

Fashion Stretches To Fit Plus-Size Teens [CNN]
Can This 26-Year-Old Change The Shape Of The Fashion Industry? [Boston.com via Boston Globe]
Related: Faith 21 [Forever 21]
Earlier: How Do We Solve The Plus-Sized Clothing Crisis?
Alloy: The Secret Weapon Of The Broke & Plus-Sized
Designers Refuse To Cater To The Average American Woman
Fashion Designers Are Small Minded About Plus Sizes
Anti-Obesity "Activist" Tells Elle That Women Are Fat, Stupid
The Ann Coulter Of The Fat Police

[Image via Forever 21]

• Noooooo! Grazia reports Olivier Theyskens is leaving Nina Ricci. [The Cut]
• Or not: the mag attributes the scoop to "buzz currently sweeping through the front rows of the Couture shows in Paris." [Fashionista]

• Los Angeles jeweler and creator of the worst ad ever Loree Rodkin is enjoying a bump in sales following Michelle Obama's decision to wear a number of Rodkin's pieces. Like Jason Wu, she won't recreate the exact jewelery, since it was all custom-designed, but she will make similar items available for public sale. For $20,000-$50,000. [WSJ]
• ONTD has what they claim are leaked David Alexander sketches of costumes for Britney Spears' upcoming tour; if these are legit, expect our girl to look a little like Barbarella when she takes the stage. [ONTD]
• One thing that hasn't changed in the recession: the purpose of the couture shows is still not to much to actually sell a large number of $80,000 hand-made dresses but to maintain a brand identity fantasmagorical enough to shift gallons of perfume, acres of accessories, and counters of cosmetics. Attendance at the Paris shows hasn't dropped, and Chanel and Dior's couture divisions are expecting modest growth. (Further proof those wealthy enough to buy couture are very far removed from current economic realities.) [Portfolio]
• That seems to be the customer Tom Ford is seeking as he releases a $990 jean. The button is gold-plated. [The Cut]
• There for us at the other end of the denim market is Stacey London, of What Not To Wear fame. She's going to shill for Lee, because Riders "fit great and make you look slimmer." We'll take 'em 'cause they cost less than $20. [Brandweek]
• Never to be outdone, Hermès is releasing a $24,000 folding chair. It's made of black crocodile and nickel. [Racked]
• Beth Ditto is going to design an 80s-inspired fashion line with the British plus sized brand Evans. They're only in Britain and Northern Ireland, and there's no word on potential US distribution. Maybe Barney's will pick it up, like Kate Moss for Topshop? [Blackbook]
• Amanda Seyfried has become a face of Movado. [WWD]
• Eddie Bauer is being sued by outdoor clothier Woolrich. They say Eddie Bauer's slogan "The Original Outdoor Outfitter," is too much like Woolrich's, "The Original Outdoor Clothing Company." No argument there, but hasn't that been Eddie Bauer's slogan for eons? Did Woolrich just notice? [AP]
• Multinational giant Unilever, owner of the brands Dove, Axe, as well as skin-bleaching cream Fair & Lovely, is buying the TIGI hair product line and its hair-care schools from Toni & Guy. I just learned Unilever also owns Ben & Jerry's, so next time before I get high and mighty about an Axe ad, I'll try and remember how much I love Cherry Garcia. The world being nuanced and all. (But, ugh, Fair & Lovely?!) [WSJ]
• Time "investigates" the Anna Wintour retirement/replacement story, talks down to Page Six and the online sources that initially broke the rumors, and then rehashes everything you read here and elsewhere six weeks ago. MSM FTW! [Time]
• Glenn Close must have read that article in February's Glamour about "shopping your closet": She went to the Armani couture show in the same outfit she wore to the 101 Dalmatians premiere. In 1996. [WWD]
• Freida Pinto, the female star of Slumdog Millionaire, has been criticized for the mustard-yellow strapless Christian Lacroix gown she wore to the Golden Globes. She says, "It seemed like the right choice at the time." So many things do. [Times of India]
• PETA defaced Aretha Franklin's star on the Hollywood walk of fame. They called her a "Fur hag." [Daily Express]
• At the other end of this link lies proof positive that anybody can be made to look like Marilyn Monroe for a fashion ad. You'd never know Daria Werbowy to be a brunette. [Sassybella]

The video, which was funded by Dove and directed by Pinny Grylls, uses a split screen to juxtapose the women offering their imagined conclusions about these individuals' lives, and the reaction shots of those being commented on. It makes for uneasy viewing, at times — one woman looks at another and says simply "Divorced" and when the roles are reversed, the second woman says back " 'I'd like to do what you would like me to do,' that's what that face says" — but there are sweet moments, too. When a middle-aged woman with close-cropped hair says a twenty-something blonde "Loves her mum," the younger woman actually tears up. "She's got very nice moles," says one woman, "I like moles on faces, and freckles." When an older white woman says a young black woman with dreadlocks is "the face of a very modern youth," I almost cringed, expecting some sort of borderline patronizing 'Gosh society has gotten SO multicultural!' remark. But all she meant was that women in their twenties no longer have to go out with pancake foundation to face the world. It's all very cute and meaningful, and the point is clearly to remind us that we are all individuals, since at the end the various women tell us who they are, really, and it's sometimes surprising (and wonderful) in the way that it's surprising (and wonderful) to find out the dowdy downstairs neighbor is actually a slam poet, or whatever, and when was the last time you could say an ad by a beauty company was 'meaningful', anyway? This feels kind of like consciousness-raising, or affirmation, only without the taint of granola earnestness, and it will make you smile.

Of course, we all know Dove is owned by Unilever, a corporation whose sheaf of brands includes a fleet of skin-lightening creams marketed in India and Africa, and the execrable Axe body spray. It is in a certain measure hypocritical to promote women's self-esteem and "real beauty" in advertising for one brand, while feeding women's insecurities and underlining the offensive idea that only white skin can be beautiful for another. (Not to mention that it also requires a somewhat elastic understanding of women's natures to simultaneously put together a fake girl band that dances in lingerie while singing about the aphrodisiac properties of men's deodorant.) But it is still nice to see women talking about each other and themselves in surprising ways. Even if it is only an ad.

It also serves as a reminder of the effect that our comments to and about each other have on our self-esteem. Seeing the looks on the women's faces, sometimes anxious, sometimes stoic, as they awaited evaluation by a perfect stranger, made me wince at times. Dove's research — necessary caveats here for "research" completed by a cosmetics company, grain of salt, etc — shows that 15% of women report never being complimented, and 19% say they are complimented only rarely. With that in mind, why not try complimenting three people today? It'll make you and them feel good. (Dove's research did not investigate the self-esteem effects of being complimented and then not knowing how or whether to respond and feeling awkward about it. Next time, I guess.)

Related: Dove Surveys Reveal Why Women Thrive On Compliments [The Sun]
Dove Video "Intuition" [YouTube]
Axe Video "Bomchickawahwah" [YouTube]

Earlier: Hello, My Name Is Awkward And I Cannot Return Your Compliment
The Inconvenient Truth Behind Dove, The Love-Your-Body Beauty Company

Why hello there, dear. The words that come to mind immediately are "exquisite corpse." Yeah, it means something else, but damn. She is dead in the eyes. The lip gloss is purty, though! And positioning her mouth thusly doesn't make me think of swollen labia, no, not at all!!

Okay, so the copy claims that this product is "the end of overprocessed blonde," but over there on the right, Ms. Johansson's hair looks sorta overprocessed. To me. I know it's in the light, but is it supposed to look like cotton candy? Or is she imagining better tresses, hence the title "Dream Blonde"? Also, L'Oreal, You Have Taken The Title Case Thing Too Far, Methinks.

Look, I have no idea what the hell goes on under the hood of a car, but I do know that you don't need sunglasses to check out an engine. It's like they're trying to be pro-woman with a bad-ass chick mechanic, but from the way she's holding that wrench to the faux grease on her arms, it's clear she doesn't know what the fuck she's doing. "Genuine since 1937." Really? Also, this whole image is very Herb Ritts circa 1990, when Carre Otis was hot. Show me something new.

Guess what? If my birth control method fails I am not going to "Be Calm." I am going to freak the fuck out. Then I'm gonna read that thing Moe wrote about Plan B and throw up.

You know what else makes me freak out? When someone suggests that "we girls" should freak out less. We make less money than men, are expected to be thin and hairless and we have the crampy bleeds every 26 days. A body wash solves nothing. Fuck off.

Correct me if I am wrong, but waxing is not an orgasmic, kick up your heels, throw-your-head-back-in-ecstasy experience as illustrated here, is it?

The copy reads, "Unleash the enchantment of Brazil," and there's some sort of kudzu emerging from her crotch.

As a rule, if you have to put the word "SEXY" in electric lights behind you, then you are not sexy. And this is no exception. These ladies, none of whom are wearing pants, want me to believe that "big hair is sexy," and they appear to be in possession of yards and yards of extensions. And the bedraggled, voluminous crazytown hair, frankly, looks like crap. Try to count the number of times the word "sexy" appears, then ask yourself: Why is there so much going on in an ad for hairspray?

Pinocchio's sister dreams that someday, Diet Coke will turn her into a real girl. And cure migraines.

Haha, wow, OMG you guys, not having cellulite looks like SO MUCH FUN!

Aww, nostalgia! These happy white people have been in this same Newport ad since I was a kid. There's another one with happy black people. The greatest thing about Newport ads is how white everyone's teeth are. Smoking other cigarettes may discolor and rot your gums and give you oral cancer, but Newports are basically Crest White Strips!

• "It's out of control. There's always a different boy and everyone is worried he's going to pull a Halston." That's an anonymous friend of Marc Jacobs on the increasingly-erratic fashion designer. [Page Six]
  
• Ouch: David Lauren was not invited to his girlfriend (of three years) Lauren Bush's cousin Jenna's wedding. You know, Jenna Bush: Daughter of the POTUS. Apparently the Bush clan think David is too old for Lauren. Oh, and also too Jewish? Awkward. [Rush & Molloy]
  
• Kristin Davis is pissed about the injustices she faced making the Sex and the City movie: "It's in the contract that we get to keep our outfits, which is a fantastic thing, except that, for me, all of my outfits were samples. I kept my running pants, which I love and wear them a lot, but I was like, Where are my clothes?" [E!]

• Blondes need not apply to model for the lookbook for Lindsay Lohan's new leggings line. [Perez Hilton]
• God is dead: Perez Hilton is getting his own clothing line. For Hot Topic. [Celebitchy]
• The New York Giants' Super Bowl Championship ring was designed by their defensive end Michael Strahan, who told jewelers at Tiffany's he wanted a "Ten-table ring": "When I walk into a restaurant, I want you to be able to see it from 10 tables away." Um, thanks but no. [WWD, 1st item]
• And what does Giorgio Armani think about paying the most in taxes in all of Italy? "I was on a beach when I heard that. I'm not concerned with it." [NYDaily News]
• Cindy Crawford: Regrets, she has some: ""I regret that I wasn't wilder," she says. "I was working and I was nervous. I was the one in the corner with the book, being responsible. I can be wild now. I'll sometimes dance on a table for my husband and his friends. But not naked - those days are gone." [Vogue UK]
• China's latest offense: The exportation of fake Nikes. [LATimes]
• Harper's Bazaar editor-in-chief Glenda Bailey says that her permanent plus one Steven Sumner says she was only awarded with an Officer of the British Empire award because, "I shop for Britain. He thinks OBE stands for 'Owns Bloody Everything.'" [WWD, 4th item]
• It's so hard to be Diane Kruger. Of the goings-on after the Met Costume Institute Gala, she says, "I went to that party at Phillipe, which was way too overcrowded, so I headed down to Bungalow, where I danced with Christian Louboutin. That was fun!" [Fashion Week Daily]
• Eva Mendes: Pics of her topless in Italian Vogue here. [Egotastic]
• Donatella Versace is still trying to tell anyone who will listen that her girl Hillary Clinton should wear a dress. [Page Six]
• Karl Lagerfeld's handbag and luggage line is inspired by...Karl Lagerfeld. [Vogue UK]
• Fergie's daughter Princess Beatrice is working at Selfridge's department store during her gap year between high school and uni. How pleb of her. [Telegraph]
• Hermes: Sales up 13.4%. Good for them? [WWD, sub req'd]

The women of 3iying accuse the creatives behind the Dove ads of judging girls for putting time, money and effort into their hair.

Dove's hair campaign slogan is "Love your hair." I thought playing with my hair was loving it. If I loved my hair the way Dove wants me to, what would I do? Nothing? When girls love their hair, they feed it great products, play with it, invent new styles, and enjoy taking care of it. They don't do nothing.

Although they make valid points, are they right? "If I get a nose job, does that make me a loser?" The women ask. Maybe not, but which is more courageous: Going under the knife so that your nose looks more like other noses? Or accepting your nose for what it is and walking proudly, with your head held high? And isn't "playing" with your hair sometimes damaging — not just to your hair, but to your psyche? Because not all of us are supposed to have stick-straight blonde tresses. And even if Dove is a beauty company critiquing the practices of other beauty companies — whether their campaigns are successful or not, shouldn't we appreciate their effort to send a positive message? Even if it comes in a negative way?

Dove (D)evolution [BusinessWeek]

Earlier: Beauty Company Attacks Little Girl (And Other Beauty Companies) With Image Blitz
The Inconvenient Truth Behind Dove, The Love-Your-Body Beauty Company
Dove Vs. Axe: Is Unilever Hypocritical?

Yeah, so, Unilever is inconsistent. It's probably to be expected: The company owns about 400 brands, which, in addition to the United States, reach into South America, Europe, Africa and Australia, and with any big business, and it does whatever it needs to to sell its products. And if that means making sensitive, wide-eyed, victim-child advertising for women while simultaneously endorsing misogynist, sex-obsessed commercials for men, so be it. It is fair to assume that each tentacle of this many-headed, multinational monster even know what the 399 other tentacles are doing? (Unilever employs more than 223,000.) And if there is a centralized brain — perhaps that of CEO Patrick J. Cescau, who was quoted in a BusinessWeek article about companies going green saying, "You can't ignore the impact your company has on the community and environment" — should we hold it responsible? Cescau, who makes about 4 million dollars a year, lives in London and has two children. We wonder if they're female.

Onslaught [Feministe]
Just Say No To The Beauty Industry, Girls [Feministing]
Unilever [Wikipedia]
Earlier: Beauty Company Attacks Little Girl (And Other Beauty Companies) With Image Blitz
Indian Women Whiten Their Skin, Fight The Patriarchy
This Is The Future Of Reality Television. On The Plus Side, The War On Teenage Boy B.O. Continues!
Related:Patrick Cescau [Forbes]
Patrick Cescau [Fortune]

Dove Pummels Young Girl With Sexual Imagery In 'Onslaught' [AdGabber via AdRants]
Related: Dove Evolution [YouTube]

Needless to say, we are stunned. Is it even possible to sell ice cream and self-tanner without the help of an emaciated Estonian? Perhaps, but we are selling our shares in Unilever right after we finish this pint of Stephen Colbert's AmeriCone dream.

Unilever bans size zero models from its ads [Guardian]

According to today's Slate, Unilever, the company responsible for the above atrocity, is also responsible for the "love-your-body" ads produced for Dove's Campaign For Real Beauty.

More cheap feminism, indeed.

More Cheap Feminism From Dove[Slate]
Girl Parts Mouse Pad: Almost As Good As The Real Thing [Gizmodo]

Dove now has a page where you can find all its freebies in one handy place. Free Samples, promotional gifts and dicounts abound.

Thankfully, you don't have to go via their EXCLUSIVE Oprah drivel page. Even free stuff ain't worth suffering through that.