‘Axe’ affects mating rituals
Company gives guys upper hand in singles scene

By Matthew Jaster
A & E Editor

If the books How to Succeed With Women or Romance for Dummies aren’t enough to get the average single male into the dating game, there’s always deodorant. While popular brands such as Speed Stick and Right Guard concentrate on keeping men “fresh” and “bold,” Axe Effect is taking its job as a male deodorant company one step further.

The company offers loads of useful information to help single men across the country solve the eternally-perplexing dilemma associated with the dating game. Axe company policy prohibits employees from being quoted. The Chronicle discussed the services with a company spokesman in a recent e-mail interview.

“Axe is all about giving guys the edge in the dating game,” the spokesman said. “We wanted to give young single men the idea of where the best places are in America for hooking up.”

Recently, Axe Deodorant released the results of a nationwide survey that rated the best and worst cities in America for the dating game. The study was based on a wide variety of figures from sources such as the Census Bureau and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The criteria was complied by city experts at Sperling’s Best Places—a website that profiles cities across the country.

Population, coffee shops, concerts, bars, gift bearing and exercise were some of the factors in the survey.
The results said some interesting things about the state of dating in this country.

“I’d say if you’re young and single, a college town is the place to be,” the spokesman said. “Don’t just think big city, the college towns have a huge population of 18- to 24-year-olds and a large percentage of singles.”

Due to the large number of this demographic at the University of Texas, Austin, Texas, was No. 1 overall in the ranking.

Some other notable results from the survey include Ann Arbor, Mich., as the largest percentage of singles compared to overall population and San Jose, Calif., as the city with the most concerts. Columbia, S.C., has the most lingerie shops per capita.

Some obvious results include Seattle as home to the largest number of coffee shops in the country and jewelry is most often purchased as gifts in New York. But the question still remains: What do deodorant and hooking up have in common?

“Guys need to know that wherever they are, women expect a guy to smell great,” he said.

“Smelling badly means lonely days and nights. If he smells great, he will have more confidence and a better shot at getting the girl, which is what Axe Effect is all about.”

According to the survey results, however, this confident single man won’t have much luck here in Chicago. Hooking up in Chicago isn’t exactly the ladies man’s paradise either, with only 49 percent of the single guys and girls in the city getting together. The real mystery is how Ohio made the list multiple times with cities like Cincinnatti, Cleveland and Toledo.

Last fall, it conducted its first annual survey for the mating game. Some interesting stats: 20 percent of girls and guys said they’ve met a person they eventually go out with more than once at church. Sixty-four percent of girls encourage fooling around in a place where they can get caught and 83 percent of guys encourage girls to strip for them. Who knew deodorant was capable of such refreshing information?

For more information visit www.theaxeeffect.com.