Youth Inc.

Scent of a man

Axe Deodorants has held sway over the youth by sticking to basic instincts

During the Indian Premier League, television anchors Sameer Kochhar and Archana Vijaya finish discussing a match and announce a commercial break. Kochhar calls to make-up for a touch-up and sprays on some Axe deodorant the make-up artist brings with him. Vijaya, who’s calling in from the field, gets a whiff and is promptly turned on. An embarrassed Kochhar looks down at the can in his hand and then checks hurriedly with the production team that the cameras are off: “Are we rolling?” This video is a new favourite with Dhruv Bajaj and his friend Aditya Banerjee, both 18-year old students at a suburban Mumbai college. “It’s hilarious. We log on to YouTube all the time to see Axe ads,” says Bajaj. Others share their interest in the ads: since it was uploaded in end-May, the Kochhar-Vijaya video (it’s deliberately not listed as an ad) has already got over 100,000 hits.