Lynx is the latest brand to embrace dark humour

Lynx is the latest brand to embrace dark humour

As adland veers away from ‘adverts with purpose’, Lynx’s new campaign feels very of the moment.

As terms like ‘greenwashing’ and ‘pandering’ get thrown around, companies are returning to the basics of sales tactics, and humour is making a comeback.

Two recent Lynx ads feature a robbery and a funeral in order to create an emotional and viral connection with audiences. The move from Unilever's Lynx (known as Axe in most markets) signals a departure from recent forgettable efforts, which veered away from their history of standout Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH) ads.

Taking the reins now is Spain's Lola Mullenlowe, who brings in an unmistakable flair of Spanish humour, reminiscent of the late director Luis Buñuel, renowned for his mastery of black comedy. Lionel Goldstein of Czar.be directs.

With risqué humour dividing audiences of late, it remains to be seen how audiences will react, but perhaps that’s the idea: being divisive and embracing sex appeal once more is likely to provoke a response.

Early social media responses, however, prove that people are indeed re-establishing those old Lynx brand associations. It’s notable however, that the critics of the brands humour, are reacting with, well humour.







Return to lolz

A cursory look at Creative Moment’s front page this week reveals a distinctly offbeat tendency overtaking the Adverse.

Virgin Voyages advert, AI debates aside, is the latest in a series of campaigns positioning celebrities as fun loving and unpretentious.

Fanta’s latest advert, meanwhile, returns to the distinctly 90s brand of irreverence, reminiscent of ‘Only Smarties Have the Answer’ and (Reebok’s) ‘Belly’s Gunna Get You’.

And, this bizarrely amusing advert from the perspective of a bee proves brands like Skoda will deploy big budgets and high concept creative in the name of raising a smile. 

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