Old Spice: Not Your Father’s Aftershave

Three years into taking on the Old Spice account, Wieden + Kennedy go viral with “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” series

Would you want your man to smell like Isaiah Mustafa?

I’ve mentioned Wieden + Kenndy’s commercials on  here before because they tend to be good. Very good.  They make us laugh, they make us cry, they make us buy.  That’s the bottom line, isn’t it?

He’s on a boat!

Craig Allen and Eric Kallman are the creative influencers over the Old Spice account at W+K and have been working on the account for about a year and a half.  In the three years since the account has been handled by this agency, it has become clear that Old Spice is no longer something of a father figure.  The ads seemed to target a funny-bone- young-male-AXE clientele with the occasional slant at the female.  They finally found ground with “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” which seized upon the fact that women purchase the majority of grooming products in households, and wouldn’t they like a little more from their man?  With similarities to Dos Equis’ “The Most Interesting Man in the World” by Euro RSCG Worldwide (which also rated by Milton Brown as one of the most favored ads in US research history)  the Wieden + Kennedy team also took social media into their own hands and have parlayed this savvy into one of the most successful campaigns – um, ever?

Adding accounts on Facebook and Twitter, the Old Spice man – played by Isaiah Mustafa – began giving video replies to tweets and responses to the crowd and to celebrities alike.  One of the favorites was a multi-response to cutie Alyssa Milano that led to this video and delivery of said flowers and note to Milano:

True to the campaign, Old Spice guy turns again to the female, letting Alyssa know that because she is a woman, it is “obvious” to her what he should do next.  So she should tell him.

Buy Old Spice, perhaps?

The video replies stopped just a few hours ago but the craze has only just begun.  This campaign has been perfectly executed, leaving us wanting more and absolutely wiping out the Old Man – Old Spice correlation.

So tell me, are you tired of your man smelling like ladies’ scented body wash?