Metamorfosis

Why it works

A young man drenches himself in Axe and is promptly swarmed by women. From there the scent's pull is passed on, in a wordless chain reaction set to “Love Is in the Air”, from one creature or person to the next, so that, as Página/12 put it, the fragrance lasts even to the grave. Made in Buenos Aires by VegaOlmosPonce to relaunch the deodorant with a longer-lasting formula, the spot turns a dull product claim into a comic relay that needs no copy at all. It is studied as a model of the pure visual demonstration, and as a symbol of Argentina's creative boom during the 2001–02 economic collapse, when Unilever began producing commercials in Argentina for markets from Uruguay to Spain, Germany and the UK. It won the television Grand Prix at El Ojo de Iberoamérica in 2002 and, as reported in Argentina and Brazil, a Gold Lion at Cannes that year.