The Old Spice advertising campaign from 2010 aimed to promote the brand's men's body wash and deodorant products. The campaign starred actor Isaiah Mustafa and featured humorous videos posted to social media where Mustafa directly addressed viewers. The campaign was a major success, significantly boosting Old Spice's social media following and sales. It helped shift perceptions of Old Spice, which was previously seen as outdated, by presenting a new masculine image. The spoof videos the campaign generated also increased buzz around Old Spice.

1. Old Spice Advertising
OLD SPICE THROUGH THE YEARS
Superbowl Tide advert

3. Old Spice Research Task – Answer these!
Research the Old Spice Advertising Campaign ‘The Man your Man Could Smell Like’
Create a presentation to show your findings
Images may be copy and pasted, but all text must be
in your own words
Points to cover
● History of the brand- it was created in 1934 by
William Lightfoot Schultz and it was originally a
women’s scent.
● Aims of the campaign- The aim is to promote the
men’s aftershave and body wash.
● Dates and times of the campaign-
● Use of social media- Within a week of the
campaign’s launch, Twitter followers of Old Spice
increased by 2,700%.

4. This campaign involves snippets of winter sports,
usually associated with men such as climbing and
snowboarding. This emphasises the idea of a manly
scent and the audience will be more manly by using the
product. As well as this, the sports people in the image
are recognisable as men which adds to the
representation of a manly man.
The original Old Spice advert has the same man but
covered in sand instead of snow. This advert is a
adaption of the original to show it has other products
that are different. Although it is different, it still has the
same effects as original.

5. Questions to answer
1. How was Old Spice traditionally advertised? (next slide)
2. What are the similarities / differences (old and new ads)? – Both new and old adverts include a man who is
seemingly happy with Old Spice. Also, some adverts include a woman who looks up to the man with the Old Spice product.
3. How did the new campaign fit with this historical strategy? -
4. Which products/companies were the main competitors and in what ways? – Lynx is a big competitor
as it is a men’s body spray and also a shower gel.
5. What techniques are employed in:
● The TV commercials / The print ads / The Social Media campaign
5. What social and cultural issues are raised by the campaign?
6. Who is the actor (Isaiah Mustafa) in this campaign? Why was he chosen?

7. Old Spice
1953 1941
http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/search?q=old+spice

9. 1942

23. The Old Spice 2010 campaign
Old Spice were losing their market share and had been seen as outdated and
for old men.
It is set on Wieden+Kennedy to remarket Old Spice.
There was direct competition with Dove Superbowl campaign in 2010.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oj0taJVkpVY
Proctor and Gamble’s research showed that 60% of men’s body washes were
purchased by women so Old Spice needed to attract female shoppers as well.
Many products on the market lacked masculine credibility so Old Spice could
work on the idea of smelling like a man.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owGykVbfgUE

24. Media Strategy
The target audience is 12-34 men and their women shoppers.
The Old Spice media strategy for the launch was simple: Instead of spending money on the Super Bowl,
they aimed to create Super Bowl impact building awareness around it.
1st communication layer [SEEDING]: To start building buzz with Old Spice’s fans, “The Man Your Man
Could Smell Like” first appeared on YouTube and Facebook a few days before the big game.
2nd communication layer [LAUNCH]: Next, search engines strategy played a key role, as Old Spice
scooped up Super Bowl-related terms to help drive traffic over Super Bowl weekend. With these tactics in
place, buzz for “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” was climaxing just as the game was finishing. By the
time the spot first debuted on television—24 hours later—many people assumed that it had actually
debuted during the Super Bowl. Mission accomplished.
3rd communication layer [ENGAGE]: Post-launch, Old Spice media strategy addressed one of the key
ingredients for success: getting both sexes to talk about the campaign.

25. Media Strategy
Activations in environments where guys and girls would be watching together (Vancouver Winter
Olympics, American Idol, cinemas during Valentine’s Day weekend) and gave them BOGOs.
Video response campaign create an interactive experience in which ‘The Man Your Man Could Smell
Like’; personally responded to his fans on the Internet in real time.
Video response campaign. 200 personal videos to online Social Media tweeters, and to some of
Twitter’s most followed people

27. Watch the spoofs of the Old Spice campaign
Spoofs make intertextual references
What is the significance of these ads?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XApxFznVafg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onZxdodEFT8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4lRXxANBjU

28. Analysing the Advert
●Aim of the print advert? This is to catch the
attention of the audience.
●Media language
●Representation of males- This advert makes males
seem very manly, and that any man who wears it
can be like the man in the advert.
●Representation of the brand- The brand is
representd
●Psychology, which human needs is it satisfying
●Which three utopian solutions are encoded? (how is
this achieved)?

29. Representation
●Isaiah Mustafa 37 years (2010)
●American actor and former NFL wide
receiver
●Representation of masculinity in the
commercials was a key factor in the
campaigns success
●He speaks directly to the female audience
(look at me / eye contact)
●He represents the woman’s conception of
the perfect partner
●The advert exploits and enforces images of
hegemonic masculinity (preferred model of
manliness)
●Scented adverts like beer commercials are a
manual on masculinity

31. Contexts
Social Context
•Social Anxieties
•Inequalities (gender, race,
sexuality, class)
•Conflicting Social Values
Cultural Context
•Consumerism
•Celebrity Culture
•Feminism
•Postmodernism

32. Social Context
Social Anxieties
• The athletic and muscular bodies
represent the male obsession with
their body image thus attributing a
certain body insecurity to the target
audience
Inequalities (race)
• Black Looks by bell hooks hyper-
sexuality of black bodies over white
Inequalities (sexuality)
• Importance of heterosexuality in
constructing masculinity to sell the
product to women
Inequalities (gender)
• Reinforcing a patriarchal society, a
man who uses Old Spice will take the
female viewer away, she cannot take
herself

33. Cultural Context
Consumerism
• In 2013, the global mass men's
fragrance market was valued at
approximately 9.1 billion U.S. dollars
Celebrity Culture
• Capitalising on star appeal / star as
commodity
Feminism
• the advocacy of women's rights
on the ground of the equality of
the sexes
Postmodernism
• Isaiah Mustafa use of celebrity out of
context / new meaning / new truth
• Representation of man ‘new
man’(see next slide)
• This idea of mixing references is
referred to as bricolage (meaning
jumbled). Bricolage refers to the
process of adapting and juxtaposing
old and new texts, images, ideas or
narratives to produce whole new
meanings.

34. Postmodernism