Labels

Shopping has always been something of a long and arduous task for me. Not only can I be overwhelmed by the numerous choices, but I am a label reader. It usually begins with checking prices. Once I've narrowed down the cheapest options, I then try to find the healthiest (unfortunately the two qualities rarely seem to go together.) In Kinshasa, choices are limited which is usually helpful, but I still spend time reading ingredients and trying to figure out which buy is going to be the best for our family. Surprisingly, Kinshasa does offer a few whole wheat pastas and some other natural-ingredients-only type items (soaps and creams- yes, I read the labels on those, too.)

Of course, there are those foods which I don't even bother reading the label. Bags of chips, Vital-O and other small snack items- known as treats for the boys- that come in a single serving portion. I figure everyone has to splurge right? At times, the boys prefer their splurge item to be a bottle of body spray or shower gel. They always choose their favorite brand "AXE." Being the only woman in a house full of boys, I try to indulge their sense of manhood whenever possible. AXE mostly smells pretty good (except when they go overboard) so it's a fairly painless indulgence. I've never looked at the ingredients and try not to look at the price.

Until the other day when a bottle of AXE shower gel was hanging out by the sink and I happened to read the label as I was brushing my teeth. "Lendemain difficile" it said. Wait, hard morning? Can that be right? I thought surely there was something wrong with my French. Just under the title was a suspicious subtitle "Anti-hangover." I was certain there was definitely something wrong with my French and my English as I picked the bottle up to look it over.

Stimulant Mg+O2???Maybe I should have read the label....
Interesting conversation by some others with the same questions

I guess after briefly visiting the website, I shouldn't really be surprised. But when I was having my first close inspection of an AXE label, I hadn't yet thought to check out the website of my sons deodorant. The picture, more importantly the caption, on the back was absolutely hilarious. I remembered being 10 and wondering how the advertisers could get away with making claims that were so obviously not true- did people really believe that stuff?!

"Miracle shower gel saves your morning and brings back energy even after a long  and difficult night"
And under that a promise of "Unlimited Female Attention" after just one washing, presumably. 

I thought immediately of the Metamorphosis class in our middle school that teaches kids how to evaluate media. What a great conversation piece (especially since there's a pretty could chance that on any given day more than half the boys in the class would be wearing AXE.)

Mohamed assures me he is not seeking 'unlimited female attention', and, in fact, says he hasn't noticed any extra girls hanging around him. "It's just a smell to attract people," he says in his media-savvy voice, laughing a bit at me for believing what I read. Happy to hear he knows better.