June 24, 2012 
Today’s post begins with an actual account of the meeting that took place when the Lynx ‘Clean your balls’ campaign was born.*
It’s late on a Friday afternoon. Lynx executives sit side-by-side with the most brilliant minds in the advertising industry. They’re ready to make history. Ready to win awards.
The brief is simple: sell Lynx men’s shower gel. Ties are loose at necks. Hands are running through product-filled fringes. One guy’s watching Bikini Car Wash III on his iPad.
‘All right, men,’ begins Lynx’s highest ranking officer. ‘What have we got?’
A young man in a tailored suit speaks up. University-educated, well travelled, crisp accent. ‘Balls,’ he says emphatically.
Some nods. Some looks of confusion. Some uncomfortable shifting in seats.
‘What’s wrong with breasts?’ the boss asks. ‘Breasts sell everything.’
‘We’ve done breasts before. We need something edgier. More creative. More tangible.’
‘Balls . . .’ the boss muses, warming to the idea. ‘Talk me through it.’
‘We use different sorts of balls, you know, like tennis balls and golf balls, as a metaphor for … well, balls.’
‘Bit opaque isn’t it? There must be some way we can get breasts in there?’
‘No, sir, not really. It would compromise the thematic premise.’
‘Boobs?’
‘No.’
‘Bosoms?’
‘No.’
‘Hmm. A commercial without breasts.’ He sits back, squints his eyes and tries to imagine such a curious creature. ‘It’s a risk, but I’m going to back it. You know I love creative ideas!’
—-
The campaign is offensive; it’s meant to be, as Lynx has more-or-less confessed (though they use the phrase ‘sharp and edgy’).
Has anyone actually said ‘edgy’ in conversation since 1996?
What Lynx hasn’t explained is why it has to be so unaccountably juvenile. It’s not clear from the campaign video whether the whole thing is for an actual product or is just a snigger-fest put together by a bunch of fourteen-year-olds with Final Cut Pro and too much time on their hands.
Call me a crazy, femo loving wowser, but why does Lynx have to use puerile double entendre to sell shower gel? Have all the good ideas really run out? They talk about being mavericks, but what’s maverick about objectifying women? Just about every ad agency on the planet is doing that.
Women? How could this be objectifying women? It’s all about balls.
No, it’s not. It’s about the premise that women exist primarily for men’s sexual gratification. No matter how much Lynx claims this is a ‘sharp and edgy’ campaign, it has the same misogynistic foundation as so much of the other tripe we’re served up by advertisers on a daily basis. All of them infusing our minds with the idea, explicit or not, that women are mindlessly stumbling from one opportunity to pleasure their menfolk to the next. That’s the sum total of their contribution to society. And here’s a tip, lads, if you use the right shower gel, they won’t be able to help themselves.
But Lynx wasn’t going to stop at one overproduced advertisement. Just to prove that the campaign team had more than one brilliant idea, they decided to knock off a picture of the Hockeyroos – you know, the incredibly dedicated sportswomen representing Australia at the next Olympics – and plaster it on Lynx’s corporate Facebook page with the blisteringly witty caption ‘These girls sure know how to handle balls.’ Seriously? Sharp and edgy? Or disrespectful and lame?
Two-faced Unilever is the parent company that owns Lynx. Unilever also owns Dove. Dove campaigns for real beauty. Lynx objectifies women. Enough said, I’d suggest, but Miles Mainwaring says it better than me anyway so check out his article highlighting Unilever’s hypocrisy.
Of course, the team at Lynx will be slapping their palms red from all the high-fiving at every negative word spoken; free publicity, campaign longevity! Well the joke’s on you Lynx, because no-one actually reads this blog.
But you know what, maybe I’ve been a bit harsh. At least the campaign was original.
The original Axe campaign, which Lynx ripped off and re-badged for an Australian audience.
Thanks to Collective Shout (CS) for highlighting this travesty of a campaign. Read the CS post here.
To take action and tell Lynx what you think about its ad campaign, send a message through the Unilever (parent company) website. Or make a complaint to the Advertising Standards Bureau.
* Today’s post did not really begin with an actual account of the meeting that took place when the Lynx ‘Clean your balls’ campaign was born. But if advertisers want us to think they’re more than a group of adolescents in suits with way too much money, give us something clever, creative and maybe even funny. Please leave the smut and objectification behind.
‘Edgy’ is perfectly defined by Daria in this hilarious 30 second clip http://youtu.be/gqJTMl1F9Wg
Brilliant Scott. ‘Perfectly defined’ is the only way to describe it. Thanks.
As it happens last time I heard someone use the word ‘edgy’ without irony was a Gallery owner who shows granny-shocker-with-mild-case-of-middle-aged-naked-youth-obsession and otherwise talented Australian photographer Bill Henson to describe his work. I kid you not.
spot on.
However, just one observation. The campaign is not “ripped off” a similar Axe campaign. “Axe” is the name used for the Lynx brand in some other overseas markets and in Europe. It’s the same campaign.
Thanks David – I think you hit the nail on the head with ‘it’s the same campaign’, which demonstrates the absolute lack of any original element. Not strictly a rip off because of the brand association, but not far off it
Reblogged this on freedomfrompornculture and commented:
Doves ‘Real Beauty’ campaign discredited. When your company is affiliated with Lynx (who blatantly highly sexualise and exploit women in their marketing campaigns) under parent company Unilever, you lose all credibility in endorsing ‘Real Beauty’ and instead, contribute to a society filled with mixed messages on how we should view our bodies and feel about our sexualities. Don’t buy into it and don’t buy it. As consumers we hold the power. “We’ve demonstrated that it doesn’t matter what the exposure is, whether it’s general TV watching in the evening, or magazines, or ads showing on a computer. If the image is appearance-focused and sends a clear message about a woman’s body as an object, then it’s going to affect women.” Postdoctoral researcher Shelly Grabe http://www.news.wisc.edu/15215
“Amazingly, some argue that media is not to blame for body image problems, instead blaming parents if their kids aren’t resilient. This meta-analysis, which looked at 77 studies and over 15,000 participants, proves otherwise. The researchers say despite all the body image initiatives, media images have more impact on girls and women than the did in the 90’s. Industry must be held accountable.” (BodyMatters Australasia facebook)
Your buying habits can and do change the world http://opt4.wordpress.com/2012/07/21/your-buying-habits-change-the-world/ Think twice before you buy. Buy with your conscience not with marketers and corporations vested interests.
Thanks Lily.
Agree that as consumers we can make a difference. I used to buy Dove for men but I’ll never go near it again as long as Unilever continues to serve up its misogynistic, sexist campaigns, typified by the Lynx brand.The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty is, sadly, laughable because of this association.
Message to Unilever – we’re not as dumb as you think we are.
Hi there Guy,
This is a great article! Thanks so much for speaking out against Unilever and for your support of Collective Shout.
Thanks Melinda. Appreciate the kind feedback. Collective Shout is a much-needed voice in a society that tolerates such widespread objectification.
Mate, I loved this piece. Well done.
Thanks Suzy!
Hi Guy, I’ve written to Unilever in the past re Lynx advertising. The responses were laughable and a complete insult to my intelligence. As a mother of two daughters I am furious with what they are confronted with every day in the form of advertising, music video clips, lyrics etc. Keep up your good work Guy. Just out of interest I’m wondering if you’re the same Guy that knows George Thoms?
Thanks for your comment Jacqui. Not surprised that Unilever treats complaints with such disdain given the utter disrespect that characterises its advertising campaigns. Unilever is clearly just about profit at any cost, even if that means objectifying and demeaning women to sell of a few cans of deodorant.