We challenged the “Boys Don’t Cry” mantra—a taboo that has encapsulated a lot of society norms and gender bullshit. Our campaign, “Boys Do Cry*”, (*Erkekler de Aglar) was the voice for the new multi-dimensional masculinity in men who are in-sync with their feminine side; men who aren’t afraid to cry in public. It epically depicted men publicly crying and owning the emotions that have been deeply suppressed. We celebrated their cries and the beauty of being unique and so we exhibited bio art out of their tears.

At the press launch event, the song was performed live by Can Bonomo. The performance was also live-streamed on AXE and Can Bonomo’s social media page for fan around the web. We also exhibited bio-art made from tears of men. Every tear art uncovered the complexity in masculinity.

A microsite was launched to deepen the experience and stories behind the tears and the art. The site also hosted real-time youtube comments to highlight the public’s view on masculinity.

Interviews were arranged with, Can Bonomo to discuss the music video and to spotlight topics on modern masculinity on Facebook live.

We spent the first 24hrs seeding the video via influencers. We then fueled the video with paid advertising on Youtube, Twitter and Facebook. After that, by Popular request the song was uploaded on Spotify, Apple Music, Fizy, and TTNET Music.

The music video hit 4.6M views in just 36hrs after the launch.

The campaign was featured on 50 online lifestyle and news articles

Can Bonomo, got 7 public appearances to discuss the music video and topics on masculinity.

In the first month, the music video hit 7.5M views on youtube, 24K likes and was shared 16K times.

The campaign hit 8K tweets and 25K Hashtags the first week; reaching 31M impressions.

The audience supported Axe on the new direction and thought it was honest and authentic— a welcomed change from the old Axe. This was monitored through youtube comments and tweets

AXE became the voice for men demanding equality in LGBT communities.

AXE products, saw a market share increase of +32 bps the months after the campaign (Neilsen NITRO database, March Value Share).

Axe turnover increased by 2.1M Euro the month after the campaign (Unilever April LV Dashboard to Data)

The campaign aimed at men on the journey to manhood who feel pressured to conform, to look and act like everyone else.

We partnered with rock star, Can Bonomo, to release a music video “Boys Do Cry”. The video was a full startling anthesis of the status quo in Turkey. The partnership was key in contextualizing the brand message in a format and tone that would resonate with AXE’s audience.

We targeted the pop culture and the music industry because of their proven success in shaping perception with young male audience. So while other music videos sold the idea of men who are strong, violent and oversexed, we said it was okay to be vulnerable and express individuality.

Men are born in a cultural idea of “men”—an old-fashioned definition of masculinity and rules dictating how they should act, look and feel. The entertainment industry amplifies this problem by brainwashing men into manifesting hyper-masculinity to validate who they are.

Studies conducted by Promundo Global showed that 57% to 72% of men have been conditioned by destructive phrases in their lives such as “man up”, “Don’t be a fag”, “keep your feelings to yourself”, “boys don’t cry” just to highlight a few. This kind of oppression bottles up emotions which lead to higher likelihood of bullying, violence, mental health issues and even suicide.

In contrast to these male archetypes, there are countless ways to being a man today; through acceptance, emotions, authenticity and expression of true-self by experimenting on individuality. Our purpose was to challenge the public’s view of masculinity in an male restrained society.