I think every Australian has a story to tell about that Indian smell.

‘so I did one of those breathaliser things and realised I was too drunk to drive. I got into the taxi and OMG!’

‘we were standing in line at the supermarket when this family came up behind us… we just had to leave our groceries on the belt and run!’

‘I was waiting for a friend at the airport when an Air India plane landed. It was so bad somebody called in a terrorist threat…’

Yes the smell can be that bad and we’ve all smelt it to testify. Worse still is when it’s someone you know, or have to interact with…all around the country covert huddled groups are routinely formed…

‘holy crap does she even know how bad that smells?’

‘surely she must know it’s unbelievably bad’

‘enough is enough somebody has got to point it out to her, I can’t go on like this’

‘alright rock scissor papers’

‘DAMNIT.’

‘ok ok you lost so go, do it now PLEASE!’

‘what am I gunna say?’

‘who cares? Just say something here she comes go!’

‘uh…ah…hi there.’

‘hello!’

‘so…uh… do you know about your smell?’

‘um what?’

‘your smell…. (why did I let them talk me into this)’

‘what are you talking about?!’

Unfortunately it seems there’s no delicate way to broach the subject. Fortunately however not all Indians are oblivious to the smell, some even wear deodorant.

But what happens when deodorant isn’t enough?

Duped by glitzy commercials and the promise of women falling all over him, Vaibhav Bedi has had enough and has launched legal action against Lynx’s parent company Unilever.

Vaibhav Bedi, 26, is demanding Unilever pay him $91,000 as compensation for the “depression and psychological damage” caused by a lack of any “Lynx effect”.


For those of you not familiar the ‘Lynx effect’ is the supposed flocking of females to any male that uses Lynx deoderant. Comical and quaint in the western world, but apparently in India it’s serious business.

“The company cheated me because in its advertisements, it says women will be attracted to you if you use Axe … I used it for seven years but no girl came to me,” Mr Bedi said in his court petition.


Bedi hasn’t had a woman in seven years and is placing the blame squarely on Lynx advertising.

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.


I’m struggling with this case. My natural instinct is to just dismiss at the absurdity of it all but he does have a point. This ad from Mexico shows just how blunt Unilever’s advertising can be (note Lynx is marketed as ‘Axe’ overseas).



I have no idea what the teacher said but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t ‘hey girls did you know deodorant stops you smelling something rank?’

Over in India the ads aren’t much better;



Here in Australia we’ve endured years of the Lynx effect on our television screens. God knows how many thousands of ugly teenagers have been duped into spraying on Lynx in copious amounts like it was a substitute for the warm touch of a female itself.

Of course sex sells and it doesn’t take a scientist to dissect the angle Lynx go for in their advertising but perhaps they’ve truly gone too far. Bedi’s lawyer certainly seems to think so:

Mr Bedi’s lawyer Ram Jethmalani said it would be in Unilever’s best interests to settle out of court.
“There is no data to substantiate the supposition that unattractive and unintelligent men don’t attract women”.


Wait what? No data to prove that unattractive and unintelligent men don’t attract women?!… I know people like to joke about India being a third world country and all but seriously?

At this point I gave in to my ok-this-is-ridiculous-meter and started to think the whole thing was a hoax. Turns out it is.

Axe spokesperson Heather Mitchell sent Asylum this statement:

“We’ve been following the news reports from India where a man was allegedly planning to take legal action for the Axe Effect not working for him personally. We can confirm this is a hoax. In fact the story originated from TheFakingNews.com.

While the story is not true, we have to admit that it’s pretty funny and the joke itself is very much in line with our brand tone — playful, with a wink and a nudge. While Axe grooming products can help guys look, smell and feel great, there is only so much we can do; the rest is up to guys themselves.”


The story seems to have originated from Faking News. I found about it because the Australian media published the story as fact.

Currently the story is the third most “flocked” article on the NineMSN news website.

Along with NineMSN, News Corp syndicated the story amongst most of their online news sites (including the Herald Sun and nationally on news.com.au) yesterday but shortly after being published the story was pulled. Currently The Australian and WAToday are still running articles on it:

lynx-hoax-picked-up-by-australian-media

The Australian still running the story is somewhat amusing seeing as they are owned by News Corp. News Corp are planning to start charging people for their news sometime over the next 12 months, because you know they thoroughly fact check every article they publish.

I guess I initially fell for it because part of me secretly wanted to hope it was real. If for nothing else then deodorant manufacturers might be forced to spend a bit more money on R&D instead of suggestive advertising. In doing so who knows, they might just finally come up with something to successfully suppress that smell.

Hows about it Unilever?



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