Celebrating the launch of Axe’s new sweet smelling fragrance, a new bold campaign from Lola Mullenlowe hits audiences with unexpected, absurdist humour to unleash the power of sweetness.

The campaign is made up of a series of three humorous short films that each bring to life the irresistibly sweet smelling Axe fragrance. In each, things usually associated with sweetness turn sour as the campaign aims to show that nothing is sweeter than Axe.

The three cinematic executions see the fragrance spark unexpected jealousy and chaos ensue. Violent babies, killer teddies bears and boxing dogs jump into action as each of the three spots has an unpredictable ending, commanding the attention of audiences. 

One iteration begins with a man spritzing himself with Axe fragrance before meeting up with his teddy-obsessed girlfriend. His sweet smell is so appealing to his girlfriend that she embraces him but behind her teddies are getting grumpy. Struck with jealousy as soon as the girlfriend leaves the room the teddies spring into action and humorously begin to beat up the man. Yet, when she returns to the room the teddies stop as if nothing had happened. Instead, it looks as though everyone is in a sweet embrace. The humorous spot ends with the line: ‘Be sweeter than the sweetest,’ but not before a teddy gets in one last whack.

The other two iterations feature a boxing dog and a violent baby as their sweetness is called into question when Axe is in the room.

The campaign is a collaboration between Axe, Lola Mullenlowe and directors Lionel Goldstein. The absurd and unexpected humour shocks audiences and hits the funny bone from left field to capture the imagination of audiences who are left not knowing what to expect.

“Extending our portfolio into new and exciting innovations is important for us to stay fresh and relevant, and our new range of sweet smelling fragrance gave us the license to push the brand idea of The Power of Fragrance into an even more absurd and unexpected territory,” explains Caroline Gregory, Global Brand Director for Axe/Lynx.

Tomas Ostiglia, Executive Creative Director at Lola Mullenlowe, added: “Bold campaigns like these don’t just happen. They come to life when a team has a sense of humour.”

The campaign will launch in multiple markets worldwide, including Mexico, Argentina, the UK and Australia. An out of home  takeover, immersive audio content, interactive activations and a social push will further the campaign.

The bold campaign challenges the conventions of fragrance marketing. Successfully serving up a slice of the unexpected. By finding the funny in sweetness, Axe uses humour to stand out against a sea of sameness and stick in the minds of audiences.