Have you ever seen a commercial that is completely ridiculous? The person selling the product has an extreme personality, situations that would never occur in real life appear right on the screen in front of you. No matter how ridiculous and idiotic these commercials may be, you always remember that "funny" commercial. Advertisers know that the more ridiculous the scenarios are in the commercial, the more it will grab viewers attention. "Old Spice" commercials are a great example of creating a slogan with a lasting impression.
The above Old Spice commercial entitled "Bounce" tries to sell body spray and deodorant to men. The beginning of the ad begins with a middle aged caucasian woman with a load of towels in a basket. She begins to sell the product "Bounce", a type of laundry detergent. In the the middle of the woman's formal selling of the product "Bounce" an incredibly massive, muscular black man bursts in through the wall on a jet ski. An explosion occurs and the man begins to yell at the top of his lungs "Old Spice body spray makes you feel like POWER!!!!!".
The man is dressed in tight yellow spandex shorts, with greased up abs and protruding muscles. Body builder status. As the man is talking he is holding a can of Old Spice body spray. The woman looks confused as the man says "it's so powerful it sells itself in other peoples commercials." Throughout the whole ad the man is yelling, at the end of the commercial the man does the peck dance at the woman, raises one arm, and flies through the ceiling.
Old Spice relies heavily on the bandwagon effect. Advertisers choose fairly attractive, fit, men who use sayings such as "the man your man could smell like", "anything is possible if your man smells like Old Spice". These ads are basically saying if you use Old Spice, you will smell great, and you will have the confidence to do anything. While this may not always be true, these sayings have gone viral and Old Spice sales rose after these ads aired. Old Spice has also made use of celebrities to appear in their commercials. Fabio Lanzoni, an Italian fashion model made numerous appearances in Old Spice ads.
Most viewers will recognize the man in this commercial as Terry Crews, formal NFL player and actor. Terry can be found in films such as The Expendables and Friday After Next. This ad runs for a total of 34 seconds. So much information is shoved into such a short amount of time, you will want to see it again just to catch everything. I first saw this ad while watching TV. This is one part to a series of ads for the brand Old Spice.
This particular Old Spice ad is similar to the other ads that they have aired before. Over dramatized situations and ridiculous scenarios occur accompanied by a strong male. Old Spice tends to "recycle" their ads, using creative yet similar ideas in each ad. The ads are not meant to be serious in any way, and you can almost always expect memorable quotes in each commercial. This ad is meant to target men from teens to late 20's.
Old Spice relies heavily on the association principle in their advertising. By having a well fit, half dressed man with a nice body as well as lots of props (horses, explosions, airplanes,etc,) in their commercials, they make it look like having Old Spice products will make you look "cool and sexy". Bandwagon is another persuasive technique Old Spice relies on. By having famous people using the product and premiering in their commercials, Old Spice has made their products more appealing to "average Joes".
The commercials are appealing to young men through a certain type of sex appeal, as well as adding things like explosions, jet skies, horses, etc. to appeal to young men. In other Old Spice commercials the slogan is "change a regular smelling man into a man who smells like power". Old Spice commercials are not just designed to target men, but also women of the same age demographic (teens to late 20's). A handsome man holding old spice body wash says "hello ladies, would you like your man to smell like me?" Sex appeal is one of advertising number one ways to draw consumers in.
While Old Spice commercials are not as derogatory as Axe commercials, these ads are not meant to appeal to older audiences which may take offence to a loud, half naked men trying to have sex appeal. Older generations also may not see the idiotic humor in the ads, my 53 year old mother always changes the channel and I hear "oh how stupid" coming from the other room. I personally do not find the Old Spice commercials to be offensive, they are not picking on a certain race, age, or sex. They do however contain stereotypical characters, such as Fabio the older male model who has perfect shiny hair, glistening abs, and women who swoon over him. The handsome, muscular man who appeals to not only women, but men as well, is another stereotype that can be seen in almost every Old Spice commercial.
Throw in a shirtless man and random props and the more appealing the ad becomes. The ridiculous scenarios and creative thinking are the strengths of the ad. A man riding a horse backwards and then suddenly diving into a pool full of diamonds will grab a viewers attention more than just a man talking with a product in his hands. Old Spice creates memorable ads that will leave the viewer wondering what they will come up with in newer ads. The weaknesses of the ads are that they are similar to Axe ads, except not with as much sexual content.
Old Spice appeals to women and men, while Axe is primarily based on "wear this and women will want to sleep with you". Incorporating humor into ads is also a strength of Old Spice. Most people sit in front of their TV after a long day of work in order to relax, it is a break from reality. Old Spice commercials are full of funny scenarios that will cause most viewers to laugh.
There is no doubt that Old Spice commercials are memorable, after all Isaiah Mustafa became known world wide due to his appearance in Old Spice commercials. Each ad is only about 30 seconds long, in this short amount of time the ad can leave a lasting impression. I have to admit that I love the smell of Old Spice, I even have a few female friends that use Old Spice instead of the traditional "girly" deodorants. I even loved when my ex would wear Old Spice, I actually enjoyed the smell of his arm pits. If that's not proof that Old Spice smells fantastic, I don't know what is.
I originally chose this ad simply because I thought it was funny. I never actually thought about how different brands market their products. Old Spice is based mainly on humor,and targets both men and women. They don't have as much "shock appeal" as Axe commercials which incorporate more sexual innuendos and may not exactly target a female audience. After looking at some statistics comparing sales of Old Spice compared to Axe I was surprised to see that Old Spice beat Axe.
I enjoy watching Old Spice commercials just for the humor, and must admit I have spent hours on YouTube laughing at different commercials. My only hope is that the Old Spice ads don't begin to get repetitive. As a consumer, watching a creative ad for the product makes it that much more appealing.
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