Is Axe Flix a Scam? (Or “What Is Axe Flix?”)
I received a glossy mass mailing today from “Axe Flix,” enclosing a DVD for a film supposedly entitled “A Diary.” (I haven’t loaded the DVD). The promotional copy:
AXE FLIX
Did the resounding climax merit a four-hottie rating?
Do the action scenes provoke a second go-around?
Or did the ending leave her wanting just a little bit more?
Be a critic. Rate this movie and you could WIN a year’s supply of Axe.
The whole thing seems suspicious. In my experience, most unsavory operations quickly come to light as such with a Google search. Oddly, there is only one result in a Google search for “Axe Flix”, and it’s not relevant. There is also no IMDB Entry for a movie called “A Diary,” nor do the named actors (Suzanne Knack, Patrick Kelly, Max Lenderman, Alexis Karsant, Jamie Butts, Chad Anderson) show up as real actors. It purports to be based on a best selling novel by “Robert Walker.” Also no dice.
Can something possibly be real in this era without significant confirmation of its existence in Google? I think not. Ontology recapitulates search engine optimization.
I’m writing this entry to create an anchor for future discussion. Does anyone have any idea what this is? The return address for “contest entries,” “Axe Spread the Love Sweepstakes, P.O. Box 511425, New Berlin, WI 53151,” also doesn’t provide many clues, other than possibly some relationship with toilet paper.
[Tags]Axe Flix, A Diary[/Tags]
Update: it took all of thirty seconds for this entry to appear as the first result for several related Google searches, and another thirty seconds for me to get my first comment from someone else with the same question.
Update 2: Based on discussion in the comments below, I seem to have unintentionally “fed the troll.” Maybe I wouldn’t have walked smack into this if I had heard of this product before. I guess this is my punishment for not having a cable or broadcast TV connection.
E Apr 5
I just went through the same process of “googleing” this “Axe Flix” to no avail until you posted. I’m not sure I’ll be enticed into the sweepstakes or watching the movie that “starts with a kiss and ends with a bang.”
agerard Apr 5
I assume it has something to do with Axe Body Spray, but, as you said, the Internets are of no assistance on this at the moment. And their website is annoying to navigate.
adam Apr 5
agerard, I think you’re right. Some of the “silhouette” images on the Body Spray site resemble images in the mailing.
RudeDude Apr 5
I also got one of these mailings. The wording makes me quite sure it’s about Axe body spray. My DVD contains a silly two minute video of sexual innuendo followed by twenty minutes of a crackling fireplace recording. I’m not sure how they can feel justified saying “A Diary” was “Nominated best picture” since it doesn’t exist.
So basically there is NO WAY I would ever use my own cell phone to send a text message to these numbers since it would surely result in more unsolicited mailings and/or phone calls.
jason Apr 5
Well I was overcome by curiousity and put this turd in the dvd player.. Basically its a montage of things going into holes and other euphamism’s for sex. Then it is just a virtual fireplace for 20 mins.. Straight to the trash it went lol.. I watched it in fastforward so it only took about 2 minutes to watch
G’s Apr 5
My husband and I just got this in the mail, and of course, had the same reaction. It seems a bit unnerving that someone would spend so much money for mass mailers with no website/information via internet….? call me silly but that’s a little creepy……..if anyone finds out what the deal is, post it on here…
Mike Apr 5
I also received this mailer and I will have to side with G on this one, the whole thing is just a bit strange. If you read the fine print closely the packaging indicates that by texting or replying to the mailer you will receive promotional information from Unilever (http://www.unileverus.com). Additionally if you tear open the flap that originally held the DVD you will find the “Official Rules”. The rules state this contest is only open to Males Age 18 to 30 who live in the States. The winners of this contest will win Axe Body Spray and Axe Shower Gel. Seems to me like this isn’t a mystery at all, it’s just a cheesy marketing ploy by Unilever, GMR Marketing LLC and MangoMOBILE.
adam Apr 5
Mike, I think you’re right. I guess this conversation wasn’t exactly what the marketing geniuses had in mind.
Mike Apr 5
Yeah I think someone will be looking for a new job come Monday. Really, what was wrong with the funny commercials of guys rolling down a side-slope with 300 girls right behind him? This latest endeavor is just plain stupid.
me Apr 5
Yeah I got this in the mail on April 1st And thought maybe it was a porno sent from a friend as a joke and then I popped in in the player and it confirmed it with the 20 minute fire…. But yes Definitely an advertising scheme flunked. however it did get a response from us… so out of the millions of people it was sent to 8 people giving a second thought to it seems worth it huh?
Joe Apr 5
Same here. Much searching, no results. Not even on the axe website. Has anyone actually tried texting or plugging this dvd into the computer?? So far I have not tried either. Too concerned about the possibility of a virus or a 1-900 type scam where you text and they charge your phone account a ton of money. Curious but hardly seems worth it. Very Bizarre. Funny that we’ve all posted the same day. What will tomorrow bring?
Evan Apr 5
I also received one of these videos. At first I spent about 20min on Google, Yahoo and Alta Vista just searching for anything with “Axe Flix” or “A Diary” by “Robert Walker” with absolutely no relevant hits! Today at least I found this message board. I was really expecting something kinda spicy by looking at the rating system (along the lines of the Axe commercials). Instead all I saw was a short sexual innuendo video followed by a view of a fireplace. Very disappointing! The fine print reviled that it was as contest. I don’t trust anything that requires a text, but if I did I would rate this the lowest. Their marketers could have done a way better job. What was Axe thinking?
msdos Apr 5
funny that every one started to search for this through the internet…. im sure the net hits for their websites have tripled. that in itself is going to have some impact on sales. the fact that any of us have actually left comments, shows our ridiculous curiosity; implicating the simplicity of market advertising. basically its hilarious. all you can to do is laugh. laugh that we spent so much time searching actors/actresses, books and digging deeper and deeper, magnifying the “fine print” hoping it holds the answers to the ever so mystifying black envelope we discovered in our mail box. did you really think you were getting porn in the mail? do not get me wrong i too fished through it, as well as inserted it into a computer hoping to find a readme txt document. their ploy penetrated my curiosity. congrats to axe and the relative companies, for a “split second” you obtained my attention.
UG Apr 5
So, said I to myself when I read today’s entry and the comments above, what is Axe body spray? And if I asked it, I wonder how many of your other readers asked it…and how many people they might have mentioned it to, or, if a reference were to be made in their presence, how many would say, “Hey I heard about a mailing”…etc. and people would talk about it…and so on and so on. It’s the internet…e-mails, Google searches, blogs…to me it looks like a brilliant marketing strategy.
crf Apr 5
Unilever now owns your blog.
BDM Apr 6
Also received, also had 20 minutes of fireplace cracking, immediately suspicious of the DVD as others were. Actually, pretty disgusted with the whole PLOY and DEFINITELY WILL NOT TOUCH AN AXE PRODUCT after this. And heaven help them if this DVD left some sort of spyware or cookie on my PC.
IF YOU HAVE RECEIVED THIS DVD AND NOT WATCHED IT YET…IT IS NOTHING, JUST TOSS IT IN THE TRASH AND DON’T PURCHASE ANY AXE PRODUCTS.
AXE – U SUCK & ARE VERY CREEPY
NMA Apr 6
I received this in the mail and decided to watch it to see what the hell is was and mine is 5 mins of flowers blooming and then 10 mins of planes crashing and other weird things. Very creepy.
Dustin Apr 6
Yeah, same as everyone else. Got this, played it, it sucked and is a big waste of time/resources.
Just to comment on some else’s fear of playing it in a computer. I did, no malicious software/etc. Just a stupid waste.
Thanks axe, ya idiots.
Josh Apr 6
It’s not even a real wood fire – it’s gas!
thecritic08 Apr 6
Have you idiots thought about popping it in and watching it first before you make your comments? Wow. You must be the stupidest bunch of morons I’ve ever heard?
Pfunk416 Apr 6
Thank god we can’t prove that website hits do not equal effective advertising. Someday the idiots who run companies will figure that one out and then all the stuff we look at for free on the internet thanks to advertising won’t be free. As dumb as this ad campaign is, lets hope AXE thinks it worked…
Jarrod Apr 7
I also just got this dvd in the mail, and like everyone else I watched on my mac. My default dvd player automatically started playing the whole flowers blooming thing for 20 minutes like everyone has seen. So I opened with Quck Time Player instead and it was the actual 90 minute movie. The actual movie was decent. It stars that kid who starred in that movie Almost Famous. I looked him up on IMDB but this movie wasn’t listed as one he was in, and his name isn’t on the package. WEIRD! Decent movie though if you can play it on a player that actually plays the movie and not the flowers. Just use Quick Time Player.
adam Apr 7
Re “thecritic08”: as a rule, I don’t load unsolicited media from an unknown source on my computer (the only DVD device I have). See, e.g., this article:
Can you remind me again who is the “stupidest bunch of morons”?
Brooke Apr 7
I had the same feeling. What the heck is this? I was afraid it was something pornographic and also threw it away. I also agree that this was a terrible marketing strategy. I will never by axe now. How odd!
Shawn Apr 7
I got this in my mail box today and watched the whole thing. Now, I’m starting to find my own odor far to bland and I have an overwhelming desire to purchase an obnoxious musky scented aerosol cologne so that I smell like some guy from New Jersey who only wears gold chains and track suits.
Edwin Apr 7
Look guys, it’s simple. I can’t believe some people are making a big deal out of this…. It’s pretty simple to figure out what they were doing with this.
The movie doesn’t exist. There is no “A Diary.” The packaging is made to look like it’s a DVD with a chick flick, to “trick” a guy into watching it with his girlfriend/wife/whatever. The movie starts with a couple of minutes of obvious sexual innuendo, followed by 20 or so minutes of video of a fireplace. If you take a minute and put 2 and 2 together, you’d realize that it’s all a gag, meant to get the viewers to have sex, hence why contest it’s promoting is called the “Axe Spread The Love Sweepstakes” (you can see this by opening up the inside pocket, where the DVD was in). The quote on the inside cover of the envelope is a joke as well, hinting at the purpose of the video: “The ending will leave you both breathless, guaranteed.”
Joe S. Apr 7
Thanks for creating this blog. Cuz I was totally confused on why I got a movie in the mail for no reason. But none of you have commented on the 2 minutes of explicit sex after the 20 minute fire scene. Does that mean I win the Axe Spread the Love Sweepstakes? You might want to watch it again without fast forwarding.
dissapointed Apr 7
put this dvd in and watched, a few minutes of buildings re-erecting themselves and then a crackling fireplace came up…..menu? no….
fast forward…… crackling logs?…….
Axe, you mean when my wife got home, i stopped playing video games for a low resolution fireplace! go F_ck yourself axe promo peoples, you just lost a customer.
John D. Apr 8
I just got this too but I haven’t popped it into the DVD player and now that I’ve read all of your comments it seems rather pointless. When I got it I thought, “What the hell? Why am I getting a movie so randomly?” and I’m actually quite the movie junkie and the mini-cover of the movie looked nice but then I figured I would research a little before watching it. IMDB, Wikipedia = Zip, nada. So I figured google and I stumbled upon this. How crappy.
But now that I’ve read all this I’m thinking how much of a perfect attack on humanity this would have been if it had been something like The Ring. You know, watch the video and die 7 days later. Giant company trying to take out people with a cursed video tape. Interesting… Yeah, I have a crazy imagination.
None of you are dead yet, right? D:
Electra Apr 8
My son got the dvd in the mail, I knew he wouldn’t watch it so I tossed it in to see what it was. I got the samething fire crackling in a fire place. I was like what the heck is it a messed up DVD or what. So I goodled it and I’m happy to see I’m not the only one who was fooled. What a crock.
Christine Apr 8
Yeah, my husband was sent one in the mail, and I asked him about it when he got home, I thought he had signed up for some kind of porn mailing list. I was unhappy and then he was unhappy with Axe for sending it. Axe definitely miscalculated with this campaign. (Now the whole thing seems kind of funny, but still quite creepy). Thanks for all of the info everyone.
CHA Apr 9
I’m skeptical of this website. I think it is a ploy by someone in cahoots with Axe to get feedback from the 18 to 30 year old market because of the nuisance of getting a hold of said age range procured by cell phones. I watched the movie and it was weird. I read all these comments and they were even more out there. I fell victim to my own suspicions and it doesn’t really bother me. God Bless America.
Sarah Apr 9
Thank you for posting this blog–I’m like every other curious sucker here who had to know what it was. I’m glad I didn’t pollute my DVD player with it before knowing more.
Jason Apr 10
I was hoping it was porno or at least something clothing-optional. Boy, was I let down.
Dave Apr 10
Actually it appears to have a been a brilliant marketing ploy. Look how many people are on her talking about it. Ha ha!
Amber Apr 10
I thought it was porn at first too, and I was about to send a strongly worded letter to whoever was sending them out! There was however a useful note at the bottom of the official rules, To be removed from future mailings, please send your name and address to: AXE Consumer Services, 920 Sylvan Avenue, Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632…so after you’re done wasting 20 minutes of your life watching the “movie”, you can waste a perfectly good postage stamp and remove yourself from their list. Awesome job, retards at Unilever! I thought it was creepy and disgusting. Definitely a “one-hottie rating” whatever the hell that is. Anyway, my hubby wears Dolce & Gabbana.
Mack Apr 10
I actually thought the Dvd was hilarious. I was confused about the whole “The Diary” title, but if I was a chimp my name would be George. I had to see what it was all about. The Italian music at the beginning hooked me into the idea of a romance film and then I realized it was a progression of euphemisms of intercourse. Having seen the Axe commercials before, I wasn’t surprised, but it was definitely worth my time. What’s 1:30 minutes? Lighten up people, everyone isn’t out to screw you. Just your Gov’t.
Adam Apr 12
Yeah, I got it in the mall too and I read the description on the cover and found it interesting. When I put it in there was about 2 minutes of pictures followed by 20 minutes of a fireplace. Ridiculous and it went right in the trash. I briefly read the words next to the girls and honestly didn’t think much of it. What a let down.
Bryn Apr 13
I did a quick google search of the names listed as “starring” in this “film”, it seems that they are employees of GMR Marketing LLC, the people who put this together.
Dewie Markson Apr 14
This product carries a modified version of the sony like root kit. More details to follow. If you receive this product please do not play it on a personal computer (Windows XP/2000/Vista).
Identification code: (found on CD/DvD meida)
AXEFLIX – A DIARY
H103xxx
MEDIA TYPE : Hybrid
MEDIA SECONDARY FUNCTION : ROOT KIT INSTALLATION, CALL BACK SERVICE ( MAKETING)
Allan Apr 14
Also, no one has commented on the sexual innuendo of the writer/film company/studio. “Halls/Deep Studios.” “A Preston Critores film.” “Written by Rittel Reener.” Maybe I am reading too much into it, but it seems like they are trying to make the joke “Balls Deep Studios,” “A Press on Clitoris film,” and “Written by Little Weiner.” But, I could be wrong. Overall it just made me mad. I didn’t buy Axe before, and I sure as hell won’t now.
Jimmus Apr 14
So, am I the only one that watched this with a girlfriend who was skeptical I joined a porn mailing list, was slightly turned-on watching things get bigger, and then made love to her with the soothing sound of a fire-place in the background?
Oh…………
Gotmesome Apr 17
You all are pretty funny but I think you missed the joke. This was, by far, t he most hilarious “Thing” I’ve seen. Though nothing about “The Diary” or any movie was found inside I did think the intro (a series of symbols meant to invoke erections and orgasm) made me and my girl laugh uncontrollably. Following that was a long track of a fireplace which was quite realistic and soothing. That’s it..and I must add that I had to write this much after the viewing as I was, indeed, getting some. Maybe for the joke of it but hey, it worked. Have fun taking life to seriously and not enjoying humor when it’s mailed your way.
Sean May 16
i never thought anything suspicious about this marketing ploy, i plopped the dvd in the day after i got it and thought it was quite funny..i replied and gave it the lowest score, and apparently ive won a years worth of spray and shower gel. Anybody else win this as well? or was this just a campaign that sparked curiosity in a bunch of bloggers
Chris May 16
I just got a text message saying i won but it didn’t say what… how did you find out what you won sean?
arn4589 May 16
well i watched it and it was creepy but i entered the text contest and i won now i don’t know where to go to get info for the damn thing so if anyone has an answer let me know
Brandon May 16
Yeah i got a text saying I won too. Its been a couple months since i got the DVD and entered the contest. Seems I remember the prize being a years worth of Axe products, which is cool, cuz thats all I use. Chics love the smell of them, really. The video was lame but kinda funny I have to admit. They told me to email them my email address to claim the prize. Axe is a legitmate company, and this contest is legit for people who havent heard of the stuff. Where do you guys live? North Dakota?