In our consumer-driven world, assaulted by product placement and marketing at every turn, many of us have developed a disdain for ads. However, every once in a while, an ad really gets it right, and properly represents things we care about. These rare ads leave us thinking, “man, that was cool”. This 1-minute commercial for Washington-based axe builder Northwest Axe Co. is one such ad. It's artistic, poignant, and meaningful… and it makes us want to go out into the forest and chop some wood.

Even the narration reads like poetry (see below for a transcript), and it's no surprise. Production company Splendid Fix says it was inspired by American poet Walt Whitman's “Song of a Broad Axe”.

Subscribe Today and Save!

Get the Mag

Wood. Steel.
Welcome the hard-faced lands, where no monuments exist to heroes, but in common word and deed.
Generations before us held this broad edge, longing for its brisk, short crackle.
Echoes resound through vacant wood, calling to me.
For not even the greatest city endures. It cannot keep me any longer.
It is this I carry with me into the wilderness: an old ruin made new.

It may not be packed with #hashtags or marketing buzzwords, but we'd say this ad is definitely effective at making us want to pick up a handcrafted axe. Do you agree?

Written by Patrick McCarthy