Axe Dry France : Canadairman

In France, Axe (Unilever) is launching today a website for its anti perspirant range: Dry .

It is based on the same concept than the international TV spot, with a guy who sweats like a fire hydrant, and who needs Axe antiperspirant to get a normal life and obviously like in any Axe campaign, get the girl! Unilever France developed a local version of this guy exclusively online: Canadairman… His huge sweating capacity allows him to extinguish fire.
Axe produced a dedicated spot, with a viral potential on its target.

A video you can also find on the Canadairman website along other goodies and content such as a widget or an advergame.

A massive digital campaign led by my agency, Mindshare Paris, should provide a high visibility. Original rich media banners and homepage take over as well as overlays are about to be launched on French portals such as MSN, Yahoo or Skyrock in the next few days. More details to come…
The French blogging community is also involved in the scheme.
The concept might remind you of an old Axe hit: the Ravenstoke case (UK/2005). Not necessarily on the theme, but in its “tv-report-like” execution, except this time it has been made with typical French codes. The tone is directly inspired by south of France local tv reports.
I guess, like the recent Huggies commercial, the video will generate opposite reactions. While some will find it gross, others will find it funny.
In both cases, we can admit the brands took a risk, and notice they tried to single out their speech.
They exploited the same twist : while others competitors, on their specific markets, will be more willing to hide or symbolize the bodily fluids, Huggies and Axe will break the codes, and play outrageously the exageration of those fluids. Their common goal: a humorous and unconventional way to demonstrate their product efficiency, by stopping the massive liquid inconvenience.
Whether you find it funny or not is your choice.