Blog #3 (10/20/18)

                                   Axe . “The Cleaner You Are, the Dirtier You Get.” 2018.

This advertisement pictured above, published in 2018 by the company Axe, exemplifies one of the Seven Deadly Sins, lust. The advertisement displays two people, a man on the left, and a woman on the right. The man on the left is seemingly, and quite obviously, naked in the shower with soap covering the majority of his back side. At first glance the woman also appears to be in the same setting but when you take a closer look, you realize she is not. The woman, who also has her back facing the audience, is wearing a corset.

The phrase "The cleaner you are The dirtier you get" is titled across the bottom of the advertisement. This, coupled with the primarily naked man and woman, portray the idea of 'lust' in the advertisement. After interpreting the concept of 'lust,' you can begin to see the different portrayals of this idea. The goal of an advertisement is to sell a product and in this case, the product is axe body soap. The man on the left can be seen using this soap to wash himself while showering. On that side of the image is the first part of the phrase, "The cleaner you are." This is then followed by a woman on the right, who also has the upper part of her backside exposed, who is seemingly unlacing the corset she is wearing. On the right side of the image is the last part of the phrase, "The dirtier you get". Axe is a company with an intended audience of men of every race, wealth, and age. With that being said, the makers of this advertisement tempted men with the idea of sex, or lust. The image is saying that if you use this body soap to wash in the shower, than you will have all women 'unlacing their corsets' for you.

Using sex, or other pleasurable temptations, has become a common way for advertisers to entice both men and women into buying their products. This has always been a thriving concept throughout the development of our society, as can be seen from the creation of the Seven Deadly Sins some hundreds or thousands of years ago. For some reason, people are intrigued by the mere idea of pleasure more so than the things that would actually serve to benefit their lives. This advertisement for Axe body soap is just one example of this pertinent aspect of our society today.