Asda makes scents of the male psychology
Sun screen lotions containing butch, ultra-masculine scents are being developed by supermarket Asda for the very first time.
It is supplementing its traditional “girly” perfumed lotions with a range containing more manly smells, such as liniment, musk ….and beer.
The move follows research revealing that up to 28 per cent of young men refuse to wear existing sun creams because they regard their delicate scents as effeminate.
Said Asda suncream buyer Clare Jenkins: “Being male and macho will no longer be a barrier to protecting your skin in the sun.”
The new range of lotions will use smells that men who play sports and exercise regularly say they find attractive – a range of scents that Asda is calling Locker Room Chic.
The manly smells under investigation also include cedar, fern, juniper, bergamot, green lime and other warm woody scents such as sandalwood.
The scents used in the final line up will tread the delicate balance between manliness and social acceptability.
The supermarket hopes the new sun screen lotions will finally persuade all men to protect their skin in strong sunlight, cutting substantially the risk of skin cancer.
Research carried out by Asda suggests that young men – especially those in their late teens and early 20s – are still reluctant to wear lotions because it betrays their image as “hard”.
While lotions with delicate feminine scents score especially lowly with this group, even unscented creams are also seen as “cissy”.
Asda suncream buyer Clare Jenkins said: "We believe that our new range of macho sun creams will have an image which goes will with a strong sense of masculinity.
“Hopefully it will allow young men to remain butch without being sunburnt because the scents will confirm rather than disparage their sexuality.”