Teen Boys Picking Up on a Scent: Body Spray

Make no mistake, even among sixth-graders, girls are a big part of the Axe effect.

"I was watching the commercial, and there was this guy and he was mobbed by a bunch of girls, and I thought, 'Wow, that's tight! ' " said Asean Townsend, 12. "So I went to CVS and bought it."

"Given that more men are buying grooming products, it only makes sense that it would filter down to younger boys as well," Grant said.

Axe is not the only brand out there. More established scents -- think Dad's stocking stuffer circa 1975 -- have repositioned their products to appeal to a younger generation. Old Spice has a line called Red Zone. Gillette launched a body spray called Tag in 2004.

But the boys at Loiederman Middle will tell you Axe is their fragrance of choice. "It smells good, and it's cheap," said Nic Weinfeld, 12.

Brett Goyne, a physical education teacher at Loiederman, said he noticed the body sprays turning up about three years ago. Before that, he can't remember seeing a middle school boy use anything except maybe the occasional stick of deodorant.

"It's priced perfect for the middle school student," he said of the body sprays. "But, boy, if they sweat a lot and then put it on -- ohhhh -- it just takes over the whole locker room."

Axe retails for about $5 and has become such a part of James's life that he spends half of his $10 monthly allowance on it. It's so important to him that when asked to paint a still life of four things that were meaningful in his world, he included Axe, along with a CD, some dog tags and a pair of dice.

For mothers who preach the importance of good grooming, the arrival of Axe has been greeted with both horror and amusement.

"It started in my house last year," said Karen Clarkson, who has three boys, ages 6, 11 and 15. "And it has been passed down from brother to brother.

"Earlier this year, my 6-year-old got ahold of it and decided to test it out himself and then decided to spray it everywhere. If you've ever had a quarter of a bottle of Axe sprayed around your house, you know it takes forever to get rid of it."

What's the appeal?