About

Lynx Africa is a fragrance from the Lynx brand, which is known as "Axe" in most of the world. In the UK and Australia, "Lynx Africa" body washes and deodorants are widely memed as a popular Christmas gift. Like Axe in the United States, its scent is divisive, as some people loathe it and associate it with teenage boys.

History

Lynx Africa was introduced in 1995.^[1] Of note, Lynx and Axe are the same brand — it is branded as "Lynx" in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Malta, Australia, New Zealand and China and "Axe" everywhere else in the world. Its scent is a mix of vanilla, sandalwood and mandarin.^[2]

Online Presence

Lynx Africa products gained a reputation as traditional Christmas gifts for men in the mid-2010s, though not necessarily because men wanted Lynx Africa products. In 2019, Metro^[3] compared Lynx Africa to "petrol station flowers… an often thoughtless, last-minute gift given to men all over the UK, despite very few of them asking for it."

The trend of men disappointedly receiving Lynx Africa products for Christmas led to the creation of memes starting in 2016. One early example was posted on October 23rd, 2016 by LADBible.^[4] The page reposted a tweet that mockingly showcased a stereotypical male who would be enthused by receiving Lynx Africa products on Christmas. The post gained over 129,000 likes in eight years.

On December 18th, the Unilad Facebook page posted a sketch that joked "literally tens of men went without" Lynx Africa the previous Christmas, gaining over 52,000 likes and reactions in the same time frame.

The annual Christmas meme for Lynx Africa has been covered by Edinburgh Live^[5] in 2018 and Metro^[3] and Vice^[6] in 2019.

On December 26th, 2023, TikToker @italianbach^[7] posted a sketch about receiving Lynx Africa for the "tenth year in a row," gaining over 2 million views in one year.

Search Interest

External References