The+Man+Your+Man+Could+Smell+Like

Abena A., Jamie H., and Harry G. Dr. Darren C.  ENGL 7741 11 July 2011

**Hello Ladies: Selling It the Old Spice Way**

media type="youtube" key="uLTIowBF0kE" width="425" height="350" align="center"

Old Spice is a company that has been selling body products for men since the 1930s. Over the past 80 years, the products available for purchase have grown from a limited selection of single scented items to a collection of 81 different products available to help any man become "irresistible feminine-women bait. " While Old Spice has been making television commercials since the 1950s, the recent advertising campaign featuring former NFL team gypsy turned actor Isaiah Mustafa as the Old Spice Man has taken the advertising and online world by storm with its funny and universally appealing design that makes many viewers wonder "just how did they do that?"

__//**Intent and Components**//__

The intent of any advertisement whether print, radio, or video is to sell a product. Old Spice has been producing television commercials since the 1950s to do just that, sell their line of body products for men. One of the main advertising techniques that Old Spice uses to promote and sell their products is an appeal to women. The video starts out by addressing women: "Hello ladies, how are you?" and then proceeds to ask women questions about the man in their lives, how he smells, and goes on to associate manly and romantic ideas with the way a man smells. The series of questions gets women thinking about their man and their life and leads them to think: "I don't have what he is describing in the video, but maybe...just maybe if my man starts wearing Old Spice, then I can have a life more like the one in the commercial." In addition to all of the questions that get women thinking about how their life compares to the one that Mustafa is offering if their man switches to Old Spice products, this commercial uses simple sex appeal to entice women viewers. Let's face it, Mustafa is an athletic man who looks good with his shirt off and speaks in a sultry deep voice that can make women internally swoon, suddenly perk up and pay attention to the commercial on TV. It may seem odd that a company selling men's grooming products would cater its advertisement to women, but in many households women still do the majority of shopping for their family and make decisions as to what grooming products their significant other uses. One of the fan responses that the Old Spice Man posted on the internet acknowledges that women will buy Old Spice for men.

This commercial not only appeals to women, but it also appeals to men despite the fact that the dialogue is completely directed to women. The display of manly acts and the insinuation that all women would love a man who is capable of doing these things makes men want to use Old Spice in order to increase their sex appeal to women. This commercial also possesses a uniquely humorous quality as viewers are left wondering what just happened at the end of the Old Spice man's fast paced and action packed commercial of oddly sequenced activities made even more quizzically comical by his at times absurd monologue and the closing scene where the hot tub splits apart to reveal a running motorcycle.

In addition to the motorcycle, circular saw, romantic cake, and other manly accoutrements of the commercial, the bottle of Old Spice body wash features prominently. The placement of this bottle is not just to promote the product, but to associate it with the sheer manly testosterone that fills the commercial and seeps out of the screen and into the minds of the viewers. The bottle itself is not a normal bottle of body wash, no, it is constantly surrounded by an artful yet manly ring of frothy white soap bubbles suggesting that it and the half naked Old Spice man just stepped out of a shower, the result of which is this uber-masculine commercial that speaks to every man's inner romantic lumberjack and every woman's secret desire to be with a romantic lumberjack.

__//**Structure and Components**//__

Furthermore, Old Spice’s recent commercial invites consumers’ interests by depicting Mustafa’s transformative power as a man posited in and above nature: a paradigm of masculinity and ecology, a being beyond Being. For throughout //Questions//’ full-frame tracking shot, the film fashions each stage of the speaker’s discourse through a visual shorthand which emphasizes an “Old Spice man’s” ability to subjugate—and thus manage and embody—his environment. The following scene clips and images should prove beneficial as we continue our conversation regarding this advertisement’s application and manipulation of film composition and setting.

media type="file" key="Old Spice Questions_Part One.wmv" width="300" height="300"

The clip commences from a mid-angle, close-up perspective, framing the bare-chested, Old-Spice-bearing Mustafa amidst a background of azure sky before panning the image back to reveal the character’s placement on a serene, sandy beach: a sequence which compels the viewer to infer the speaker and product’s direct association with outdoor frivolity (i.e. an equation of intensely-fragrant body wash and the immensely-empowered sea). However, as the camera continues to zoom away from the speaker, the scene’s ocean scenery splits, revealing the “Old Spice Guy” as he balances his (now) shorts-clad legs on a recently-felled log in the middle of a tranquil mountain stream. According to this movement’s juxtaposition of scenery transaction (from a brilliant beachhead to a mountainous hinterland) and continued scene tracking (observed through the clip’s lack of film “breaks”), the speaker—and, by proxy, the body-wash product—subsumes even Nature in vigorous versatility. Indeed, the character vindicates this vision of the environmentally-unhindered man by stepping off his makeshift bark and thence striding across the water’s surface like a deity.

media type="file" key="Old Spice Questions_Part Two.wmv" width="300" height="300"

After conquering the wilderness, Mustafa continues his conquistador’s venture by overcoming a series of existential challenges less abstract in their audience-centric immediacy: the trials of domesticity. Thus, the camera chronicles the figure’s steps via a full-frame pan shot as he catches a celebratory cake proffered from the off-screen heavens and saunters from the lakeside depths through a magically-apparent kitchen, slowing his pace only to slice off a neat portion of the room’s wooden counter-top with a fortuitously-placed circular saw. Even when impelled to journey through the realm of middle-class suburban Americana, the Old Spice man succeeds in “making his mark” on the local setting, countermanding all tasks and codes which would impede his product-propelled, culturally-constructed masculinity.

media type="file" key="Old Spice Questions_Part Three.wmv" width="300" height="300"

If the viewer neglected to notice the speaker’s physically-, materially-, and ecologically dominant repartee with his external environment, the ensuing transition further reinforces such implications. For as Mustafa exits the white-bedecked, homely apparition, the film records his “leap” from the crest of a violently-coursing waterfall, centering its lens on the character’s supernatural glide (or possibly flight) from the torrent’s source into a massive, wood-furnished hot tub; Nature possesses no authority over this human advertisement’s earthly transport and leisure. Thus, the camera frames this commercial’s spokesperson with the visual accoutrements of almost-divine omnipotence and omnipresence: a composition which informs the viewer’s recognition of the Old Spice figure’s cultural and physical allure. For through such imagery, Mustafa appears as both a brawny adventurer (scaling the Earth’s highest peaks) and a sensitive amour (tending a most-relaxing Jacuzzi)—a man among men and a lover without equal.

media type="file" key="Old Spice Questions_Part Four.wmv" width="300" height="300"

Old Spice concludes its commercial with an explicit transition from the “culturally-feminine” to the “culturally-masculine” spheres of influence: an exodus from a whirlpool bath’s aquatic mantle to an American motorcycle’s leather saddle. As Mustafa straddles his vibrant red-and-white “[|naked bike]” and raises his body-wash container to the viewer’s eye, the Old Spice whistle-jingle plays, invoking the advertisement’s company logo and motto “SMELL LIKE A MAN, MAN” to fade into prominence. The visible script’s stark white coloring and almost-hyperbolic capital-lettering conventions champion—and explicitly assert—the film character’s performance; through an application of the “Old Spice Guy’s” proffered product, the consumer communes with the essence of “manliness,” the paradigmatic soul of a “man’s man”—the power checked and restrained by neither Natural law nor suburban banality.

**//__Impact and Components__//**

There are very few commercials so special people talk about them repeatedly. The commercials that do permeate the cultural collective consciousness become iconic and are able to influence the way money is spent and shape aesthetic beliefs. The Old Spice commercials featuring Isaiah Mustapha have had a transformative impact on the world of advertising and a major impact on the American collective consciousness. .

Isaiah Mustapha's performance in the Old Spice commercials is hilarious. His persona, [|The Man Your Man Could Smell Like], is full of articulate bravado and over inflated ego. Women respond to Isaiah's smooth, rich voice, well defined abs and charming smile. Men want to be like him, and some respond to him by tweeting "I turned gay for 44 seconds." Marketing agents and advertising agencies also have a big reaction to the persona and are poised to take some lessons from the impact he is having on advertising
 * //Impact on Marketing//**

The sales of Old Spice products have doubled since Mustapha's character hit the advertising scene. Web sources credit Proctor and Gamble with revolutionizing the world of viral media with this ad campaign ([|Reiss] 2010). Though the commercials alone are funny and have great appeal, it was the decision to use the persona to create video responses to tweets that took the ad world by storm and is being celebrated as a new and innovative [|marketing strategy]. The advertising agency of Weiden + Kennedy prepared 180 video responses to tweets from credible celebrities who had large followings. When the people who followed those celebrities saw the Old Spice responses, viewers incresed dramatically. "Old Spice's Twitter followers increased more than 1,000 percent. Nearly 6000, 000 people on Facebook gave its ads a thumbs-up "like It" vote ([|Reiss]2010) ." These responses were seen by thousands more followers than Old Spice had. This campaign's application of the following four principles of good marketing led to great success and earned Proctor and Gamble the moniker trailblazers amongst it's peers. It is this innovative use of social media that made a powerful impact on the marketing world and is sure to be repeated by other companies.
 * 1) Create a persona that is strong and on point.
 * 2) Seed social networks with invitations to interact.
 * 3) Engage the engaged, the famous and the influencers.
 * 4) Personalize the response and people will compete for inclusion ([|Reiss]2010).

Mustapha's persona, though primarily designed to be sexually appealing to women, seems to have an equally magnetic draw for both gay and heterosexual men. A number of Facebook responses to the persona are from heterosexual men who find themselves attracted to Mustapha. Comments made by men like "I turned gay for 44 seconds." or "Even I think he is hot and I'm not gay." are sprinkled all over Facebook. Could Mustapha's popularity amongst heterosexual men suggest this persona taps into some latent homoerotic tendencies that lay just beneath the surface of many macho exteriors? Possibly; however, it is probably safer to assume the machismo and cockiness simply appeal to men who admire those traits and wish they too could exude them.
 * //Socio-cultural Impact//**

Part of the success of this ad is due to the era in which it was made. The ad capitalizes on the wave of acceptance the American culture has embraced since the election of Barrack Obama ([|Ramano]2010). Positioning a big, strong, black man as a sex symbol in an ad designed to appeal to the masses would not have been possible 50, 30 or even 10 years ago. This ads popularity is a direct result of a shift in societal psyche which has made room for a black man's sexual appeal to not be seen as threatening. Due to the success of the ads, Mustapha has been offered a contract with NBC. The network has agreed to write roles that position him as a lead character and not a comic foil. African American actors celebrate the impact his persona is having on Hollywood’s willingness to caste more dynamic roles for African American actors.([|Ramano 2010])

The marketing team of Weiden + Kennedy have changed the world of advertising forever. The combination of an iconic persona, hilarious writing, and continuous shot filming that leaves people wondering “how did they do that?” come together to leave the television, facebook, you tube and twitter audience forever changed and hungry for more entertaining and innovative ads.

__//**Classroom Application**//__ //**Related Areas of Inquiry**// How are commercials designed to sell a product? What is the target audience of this commercial? How does this commercial compare to other Old Spice commercials, possibly from the 1970s? How does this commercial compare to other modern commercials? What other commercials attempt to sell a product to a target audience while addressing another? How does this commercial relate to other commercials selling male grooming products? How would this commercial be different if it was selling female grooming products? This commercial was filmed in one continuous shot, how do you think they did that?

 Interview with the Old Spice Guy regarding the Questions commercial. Behind the scenes of the rehearsal for Questions Commercial Advertising Lesson from Brighthub NPR's //All Things Considered// Podcast _How Do Changing Demographics Impact Ads?_ NPR's //All Things Considered// Podcast _Hello Ladies, Old Spice's Wildly Successful Ad Model_
 * //Research///Helpful Links**

**//Teacher Suggestions//** Students need to be aware of the intent and consequences of all images that they see. Students are daily bombarded with an increasing number of images online, on TV, on the way to school, and even in schools themselves as T-shirts, notebooks, book covers, and even classroom motivational posters all use visual rhetoric as a way to communicate. This commercial and others in its advertising campaign take traditional advertising techniques and use them in a new way. The fast paced and at times completely random action in the commercial makes viewers both laugh at and think about this commercial. Getting students to think is one of the hardest things a teacher must do in a classroom. Once a student starts thinking, then that student is on the path to navigating his or her world with a critical eye and understanding why it is that he or she finds certain advertisements appealing while others are decidedly unappealing. Commercials are designed with one goal: to sell a product and the age demographic that our students will belong to is an increasingly targeted audience. Students need to learn to critically think about the advertisements and commercials they see in order to make informed choices as consumers. Choosing an advertisement that students are already familiar with and for the most part consider funny and engaging is one way to start students thinking critically about commercials.

Potential lesson plans include having students examine and deconstruct commercials and using what they learn about studying commercials to create their own commercial using the components identified in class.