in-between-sound-and-silence

Anyone - with half an ounce of grey cells and a sense of humour - who has seen the ‘Dark Temptation: Irresistible as Chocolate’ Axe advert will call it anything but ‘indecent, repulsive, and obscene’. This is how MIB has categorized it and urges the advertisers “to refrain from airing the said advertisement”.  

The narrative sequence of the advert, bordering between surrealistic and science fiction, is not too complicated. A man, getting dressed, spray himself, generously, with the Axe deodrant, Dark Temptation, and on his way out he transforms into a ‘Chocolate boy’. And, well, women want to, hmm…, eat him up because he’s made of chocolate. While walking the road, he sweetly offers a bit of his ‘chocolate’ nose to women eating ice-cream as flavouring (was this the repulsive bit?). Visiting another sick woman-friend, he wiggles his ‘chocolate’ hand to amuse her. It does bring out a darn’ good smile on her face. My favourite bit of the advert is when traveling in a bus, a woman, nonchalantly bites into his bottom for a piece of his, well, ‘chocolate’ bottom. Sweet! (On second thoughts, was this the vulgar and indecent bit?)

I am not too keen on chocolate. I do not think I would flutter, if man smelling of chocolate is passing by. I like sweat and grime. I do. I watched the advert, over and over again, to figure what the ‘indecent, repulsive, and vulgar’ bits. On the third viewing, the advert was outright hilarious and anything but sexual.

The ‘chocolate’ man seems like as if he is high on LSD. The smirk is permanent and suggests some serious damage to important parts of the brain. The smile, the eyes, the walk, the look do not drive the women; they just want the chocolate. The man seems to incidental to the whole situation. 

I would admit, it is a slightly over-the-top advert but it catches one’s attention and, I reckon, does what it is supposed to do, convince men that if they use this deodorant strange women would want to bite into their bottoms. Is that the message? It did not work on me. I do not fancy either chocolate or ‘chocolate’ men. I will not want my man to smell of chocolate. It’s like having a deodorant which smells like Pepperoni Pizza. I know, I know … for the chocolate lovers, this is a deeming comparison but I do not know any better. What chocolate does to you, Pepperoni does for me. 

Ah, well …. 

And, is biting into the bottom really that ‘vulgar or obscene’? I think not. 

There could be very serious, sexual implications of biting into bottoms but that is not what this advert projects. 

The kind of bottom-biting this advert professes is that of the Sunday-afternoon-lazing-around nursing-hangover-semi-naked-but-not-sexed-out-loving-in-between-zodiac-reading-munching-into-the-lover’s-bottom. 

It is actually kinda’ quite cute. Maybe I will take to chocolates, finally.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aditya Singh @ 26.08.2008 05:06 CET
I think you have addressed the issue rather lightly with your subjectivity rooted in being liberal. The fact is that a 10 year old boy in Mumbai bought this deodorant and on failing to become a "chocolate boy",he covered himself in chocolate sauce and was stung to death by killer bees. All the while,women were biting him all over (as he cried for chocolatey help,people threw Vanilla ice cream on him). The drastic nature of such an incident forces our authorities and governing bodies to authorize and govern the things that we leave up to them. Let us all take a moment of silence for the ad, the Chocolate Boy from Andheri and the inevitable death of all creativity.

Tripta @ 26.08.2008 05:58 CET
I always dreaded my contempt for chocolate to be the reason for my doom. Here it comes ... I sink with my liberalism. Saffron, should it be then?

I bow, humbly, for the Charlie caught in the Chocolate factory of his own making in Andheri.

To seek redemption, I bite into a dark, dark chocolate. May I suffer ..

RR @ 15.02.2009 15:35 CET
Can you please delete all the rubbish comments to this post??? What the hell is Accutane anyway?

I enjoyed the ad thoroughly. I agree with your LSD diagnosis -- really weird, that. Anyway, the man and all the women are not Indian, nor is the streetscape Indian. So what's MIB's problem? Let the foreigners do what they do. Anyway their civilisation is crumbling, or is it melting...

Just now we tried a chocolate fondue thing at home, where you get a variety of differently textured things to dip into 4 pots of warm chocolate. It was sickeningly sweet! Ick.

Tripta @ 15.02.2009 23:43 CET
Thanks for pointing out towards the comments about drugs promising heightened sex drive.

I totally agree with you, Rr. about MIB keeping shut on the matter.

Also, chocolate fondue sounds disgusting; only thing that comes close to it is over-indulgence in cheese fondue. eeeks.