Is Unilever claiming to cure gayness with Lynx?

Lynx, the product Unilever markets as Axe in North America, has debuted an ad in Hong Kong suggesting its potent aromas can turn lesbian women straight. A post on the Facebook page of Lynx Effect Hong Kong says a lucky consumer can win $500 million Hong Kong dollars ($65 million U.S.) by buying Lynx… but […]

Lynx, the product Unilever markets as Axe in North America, has debuted an ad in Hong Kong suggesting its potent aromas can turn lesbian women straight.

A post on the Facebook page of Lynx Effect Hong Kong says a lucky consumer can win $500 million Hong Kong dollars ($65 million U.S.) by buying Lynx… but that the award should be claimed from “Cecil.”

It’s referring to flamboyant Hong Kong real-estate tycoon Cecil Chao, who made a splash recently when he offered the amount to any man who can successfully woo his lesbian daughter Gigi.

The work was produced by BBH Asia Pacific in Singapore for the Hong Kong market.

Gigi Chao has been in a long-term relationship with a woman named Sean Eav, and the pair were married in France earlier this year. When news of the marriage broke in Hong Kong media, Cecil Chao served up his challenge to would-be suitors and offers begun pouring in online. Gigi Chao has taken an understanding stance toward her father’s pronouncement.

“He just doesn’t understand how anybody can be gay,” she said in an interview with ABC’s 20/20.

And this is how her father – who has never married and claims to have slept with more than 10,000 women – explained his thinking: “I’m not saying that she’s not okay to be gay. I mean it’s her own choice and her own tendency… But [she should] make sure she knows what she wants. Maybe what she wants today is different [than] what she wants in the future,” he told 20/20.

U.K. film maker and comedian Sacha Baron Cohen is said to be making a movie based on Mr. Chao’s offer, titled The Lesbian.

To read the original story in Advertising Age, click here.

Brands Articles

30 Under 30 is back with a new name, new outlook

No more age limit! The New Establishment brings 30 Under 30 in a new direction, starting with media professionals.

Diageo’s ‘Crown on the House’ brings tasting home

After Johnnie Walker success, Crown Royal gets in-home mentorship

Survey says Starbucks has best holiday cup

Consumers take sides on another front of Canada's coffee war

KitchenAid embraces social for breast cancer campaign

Annual charitable campaign taps influencers and the social web for the first time

Heart & Stroke proclaims a big change

New campaign unveils first brand renovation in 60 years

Best Buy makes you feel like a kid again

The Union-built holiday campaign drops the product shots

Volkswagen bets on tech in crisis recovery

Execs want battery-powered cars, ride-sharing to 'fundamentally change' automaker

Simple strategies for analytics success

Heeding the 80-20 rule, metrics that matter and changing customer behaviors

Why IKEA is playing it up downstairs

Inside the retailer's Market Hall strategy to make more Canadians fans of its designs