Damn it, AXE. I really wish you were a smarter, more creative brand.

A thank you goes out to copyranter for providing this ad for me to borrow. He also added how the pink O should be on top of the blue X to show the "AXE effect" like I'm guessing they're attempting to do. I completely agree with him and it makes me hate this even more. Overall, this ad is one of the worst print ads I have ever seen.  The layout is lackluster and uninteresting. The concept is simply atrocious and not understandable unless you're very familiar with AXE's advertising. But even then, it's a big stretch. They're simply trying WAY too hard to illustrate the "AXE effect" without showing girls hanging all over guys, like they usually do. Really though, what association can you make between cheap cologne and tic-tac-toe? Can't think of one that truly makes sense and would sell the AXE strategy well? Yeah... didn't think so.