Axe plans to send 22 people into space

Picture via Sourcefeed

Around this time of year, many companies are busy concocting the most interesting and unique advertising campaigns in preparation for their big February debut. Of course, all of this is in preparation for one event and one event only - The Super Bowl.

One campaign that has particularly caught my eye (and not in a good way), is Axe's latest stunt to send 22 people (originally just teenage boys) into outer space. The finished product is set to premiere as a Super Bowl ad, which the company paid $4 million for. 

According to a Mashable article, Axe has teamed up with Buzz Aldrin, the second person to walk to the moon, in order to execute their plan. The Axe Apollo Space Program will send these people into space aboard a Lynx space plane built by a U.S company. XCOR Aerospace. This particular plane was chosen because, in some places around the world, Axe products are known as Lynx. Finally, each winner will fly alone in the aircraft, essentially allowing them to go on a $95,000 trip for free. 

What is interesting about this campaign in the grand scheme of things, however, is the fact that the promo concept came before the product. Essentially, Axe had decided that astronauts were heroes before they had even created the new line of products. Moreover, the company came out with this commercial recently and I can't quite figure out what justifies the focus of this ad- that astronauts are more desirable than firefighters:

No matter what Axe set out to create with this campaign, one thing is for certain. The company will receive much press and publicity surrounding the campaign and stunt. People are talking about this already and it will most definitely bring the company recognition. Whether or not Axe will actually sell significant amounts of the product remains wary, however. On the bright side, the company does sell to hormonal teenagers who most likely would be intrigued at the opportunity to fly into space so there may just be hope for them. 

Like I have stated earlier, I am not quite sure where all of this ties into the Axe Brand, but I sure am excited to see the final product air during the Super Bowl. Finally, I do applaud the company in expanding their boundaries (literally).