Axe To Put Its Masculine Stench On A Nightclub

This summer you can live like you’re in an Axe commercial when the brand sponsors a Hamptons nightclub for the entire summer. Will ladies be as irresistibly attracted to the club as they are to dudes who douse themselves in the gross-smelling body spray?

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?
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