SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A 55-year-old Yellowknife resident isn't what you might expect for the brains behind an Axe product campaign - the company known for racy ads dripping with innuendo.

For one thing, Barry Ettinger is a balding former Mountie who now works for Diavik as a security superintendent. But he also does research on the side for Axe as a body language expert.

During 34 years as a major crime investigator with the RCMP, Ettinger paid a lot of attention to human behaviour.

"Most police officers look at (non-verbal communication) as a way to identify if they're in danger or not," he says of skills honed watching witnesses and suspects.

Evaluating how people react to a potential partner's appearance isn't that different, says Ettinger.

"To read non-verbal language is the same principles, you're just looking for different signs," he says.

After retiring from the RCMP two years ago, Ettinger began working as a research consultant for the male grooming-product company.

As it expanded from spray-on deodorants to hair products, Axe looked to the veteran cop to break visual attraction down to a science.

Good hair, Ettinger says, dates back thousands of years. He discovered in prehistoric times, hair was an important indicator of good genes and procreative power - making long, flowing locks a survival must.

"If you have healthy hair, it's an outward sign you're healthy, virile and suitable to mate or be a mate or be a provider," he says.

Ettinger says it's the same fight or flight evolutionary principle that alters people to danger that leads them to do a double-take when they see someone that catches their eye. Now instead of using mud, clay and oil to act as hair products, they have an array of options to choose from, should they see the need.

Hair can pique someone's interest before they open their mouth, and repel just as quickly, Ettinger claims. The last thing someone wants if they extend a hand in an initial, intimate exploration is grease, grit or hardened gel. Because people are inclined to touch before they talk, he says people should pay more attention to not only how their hair looks, but feels and smells, too.

"If you don't like what you see, you're never going to get to the talking stage," Ettinger warns. "These non-verbal signs are the ones that get you in the door."

Though he says he can't claim to be a grooming expert, he hopes his analysis might help a few hapless guys who overlook what could be their best selling point.

"Most young guys aren't in tune with what they're projecting ... they don't really appreciate it, they're not really concerned about what it's about," he says.

Perhaps now there will be more Yellowknifers getting grooming advice from Ettinger's alter ego, they may need it.