Hot Chocolate

I'm sure those of you with sons have heard of Axe -- that deodorant/body spray that makes boys smell like men and drives the women wild. It does smell pretty good (in small doses) but there's something disturbing when the source is a sixth- or seventh-grader. That's just not right.

Recently, there has been an Axe commercial about their new fragrance -- Dark Temptation. In the commercial, a "chocolate man" walks around and women are licking him, biting him and breaking pieces off of him because they can't get enough of him. The message is that the new fragrance will be as irresistible to women as chocolate (pretty much labeling us as choco-holics with no will power. Probably closer to the truth than some of us will admit.)

The message, however, seems to get lost on some of the younger viewers. Just three days to go to Valentine's Day and Carter asks me if he can get some of the new chocolate Axe. "I realize I sit next to (girl's name here) so it's probably not a good idea, but I want to try it," he says.

So I had to explain that it doesn't actually smell like chocolate and then ask the obvious: Why do you need to smell good for girls in fifth grade anyway?

I didn't get anywhere with that line of questioning but at least I know he has not spent any of his hard-earned money on a special Valentine this year. I think he's still trying to live down the crystal (fake) swan he gave to a girl in second grade. This year every kid in his class will get a Valentine and Carter will smell like, well, Carter.

And I'll love him more than chocolate!