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New Delhi. In what could prove to be a major marketing and legal
embarrassment for Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL), a 26-year-old man has
filed a case against the FMCG company, which owns the Axe brand of men
grooming products, for ‘cheating’ and causing him ‘mental suffering’. The
plaintiff has cited his failure to attract any girl at all even though he’s
been using Axe products for over seven years now. Axe advertisements suggest
that the products help men in instantly attracting women.
Vaibhav Bedi, the petitioner, also surrendered all his used, unused and
half-used deodorant sprays, perfume sticks and roll-ons, anti-perspirants,
aftershaves, body washes, shampoos, and hair gels to the court, and demanded
a laboratory test of the products and narcotics test of the brand managers
of Axe. Vaibhav was pushed to take this step when his bai (maid) beat him
with a broom when he tried to impress her by appearing naked in front of her
after applying all the Axe products.
No girl ever asked Vaibhav to call her
“Where the heck is the Axe effect? I’ve been waiting for it for over seven
years. Right from my college to now in my office, no girl ever agreed to
even go out for a tea or coffee with me, even though I’m sure they could
smell my perfumes, deodorants and aftershaves. I always applied them in
abundance to make sure the girls get turned on as they show in the
television. Finally I thought I’d try to impress my lonely bai who had an
ugly fight with her husband and was living alone for over a year. Axe effect
my foot!” Vaibhav expressed his unhappiness.
Vaibhav claims that he had been using all the Axe products as per the
company’s instructions even since he first bought them. He argued that if he
couldn’t experience the Axe effect despite using the products as directed,
either the company was making false claims or selling fake products.
“I had always stored them in cool and dry place, and kept them away from
direct light or heat. I’d always use a ruler before applying the spray and
make sure that the distance between the nozzle and my armpit was at least 15
centimeters. I’d do everything they told. I even beat up my 5-year-old
nephew for coming near my closet, as they had instructed it to keep away
from children’s reach. And yet, all I get is a broom beating from my ugly
bai.” Vaibhav expressed his frustration.
Vaibhav claims that he had to do go a lot of mental suffering and public
humiliation due to the lack of Axe effect and wants HUL to compensate him
for this agony. An advocate in Karkardooma court, who happened to mistake
Vaibhav for some deodorant vendor when he entered the court premises with
all the bottles, has now offered to take up his case in the court. HUL has
been served a legal notice in this regard.
HUL has officially declined to comment on the case citing the subject to be
sub judice, but our sources inform that the company was worried over the
possible outcomes of the case. The company might argue that Vaibhav was
hopelessly unattractive and unintelligent and didn’t possess the bare
minimum requirements for the Axe effect to take place. Officially HUL has
not issued any statement, but legal experts believe that HUL could have
tough time convincing the court.
“HUL might be tempted to take that line of argument, but it is very risky.
There is no data to substantiate the supposition that unattractive and
unintelligent men don’t attract women. In fact some of the best looking
women have been known to marry and date absolutely ghoulish guys. I’d
suggest that the company settles this issue out of court.” noted lawyer Ram
Jhoothmalani said.
