The Man Your Man Could Smell Like

Last updated

The Man Your Man Could Smell Like
The Man Your Man Could Smell Like.JPG
Isaiah Mustafa as "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like"
Agency Wieden+Kennedy
Client Old Spice
LanguageEnglish
Running time0:33 [1]
Product
Release date(s)
  • February 4, 2010 (2010-02-04) (online)
  • February 8, 2010 (2010-02-08) (television)
Directed by Tom Kuntz
Starring
Production
company		 Morton/Jankel/Zander
Produced by
  • David Zander
  • Jeff Scruton
  • Scott Kaplan
CountryUnited States

Smell Like a Man, Man [2] is a television advertising campaign in the United States created by ad agency Wieden+Kennedy for the Old Spice brand of male grooming products, owned by Procter & Gamble. The campaign is commonly referred to as The Man Your Man Could Smell Like, the title of the campaign's initial 30-second commercial. The campaign was launched to market Old Spice's Red Zone After Hours Body Wash, but was subsequently expanded to include other products, following its success. The campaign targets female viewers, despite the product's intended market being male, as the company determined that women frequently make purchasing decisions for hygiene products even for male household members. [3]

Contents

The campaign centers on the eponymous "Man Your Man Could Smell Like", played by actor Isaiah Mustafa (Old Spice refers to him as "Old Spice Man") addressing the viewer in confident, rapid-fire monologues which promote the benefit of using Old Spice products. While reciting the monologues, Mustafa progresses through various activities, locations, costumes, and extraordinary situations, all in one uninterrupted take while maintaining constant eye-contact with the camera in a nonchalant demeanor. The advertisements typically feature a surprise ending.

Background

As of the early 2000s, Old Spice held position as the market leader in the U.S. for men's deodorant and body wash, with a market share of twenty percent. However, the brand was regarded as unfashionable and largely coasting on an aging reputation. [4] [5] Procter & Gamble had sold off several of its other older brands such as Noxzema skin cream, Sure deodorant and Comet cleanser in order to focus on products with potential for faster growth, and Old Spice was on the shortlist for a similar sale if it could not demonstrate further growth. [6]

In 2006, Wieden+Kennedy replaced Saatchi & Saatchi as the advertising agency for the brand. Advertising spending for the account was minimal in the years running up to the handover, with campaigns aimed at holding on to the brand's primary demographic of men over thirty years old. Procter & Gamble completed its acquisition of the Gillette brand of razors and personal care products at around the same time. [7]

The Man Your Man Could Smell Like represented a swing towards humor and lighthearted advertising aimed at a younger demographic. Old Spice took on several celebrity spokespeople popular with younger consumers, such as the actors Neil Patrick Harris and Will Ferrell, and the rap artist LL Cool J. [6]

Commercials

Initial commercials

Allen and Kallman confirmed that the commercial was filmed in a single uninterrupted take [3] requiring three days of shooting and numerous attempts to achieve a successful take. Minimal computer-generated imagery (CGI) was used, consisting of overlaying a separately shot artificial hand during the segment where diamonds flow from Mustafa's palm and the body wash rises through the pile of diamonds with a separately filmed shot of the hand. [3] The remaining effects were practical and achieved on-set, including a crane lifting the bathroom set from above, a crew member dropping a pre-formed shirt over Mustafa's head from above, and a cart that carried Mustafa from the boat set onto the back of a horse. [3] [8]

The ad was first broadcast online on 4 February 2010. It debuted on U.S. television four days later during the commercial breaks for new episodes of American Idol and Lost and coverage of the 2010 Winter Olympics. This delay was timed to take advantage of the predicted increase interest in advertising for the days following Super Bowl XLIV. Its release was widely commented on in the American media, with features appearing in publications such as the Los Angeles Times and the New York Daily News , and Mustafa was invited to appear on several television talk shows, including The Oprah Winfrey Show. The Man Your Man Could Smell Like was a popular, critical, and financial success. By the end of June 2010, it had been viewed online over 11 million times, and had received a number of honors from the advertising and television industries, including the Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, the most prestigious award ceremony of the marketing community. At one point in mid-July 2010, videos from the series accounted for eight of the top eleven most-popular videos on YouTube. [9]

Filmed at the same time as the main commercial was a 15-second "sting" [10] entitled "Did You Know", in which the camera zooms out of Mustafa to reveal that he is riding a horse backwards. [10]

"Questions" and "Boat"

The ad expanded upon the first commercial, which featured two changes of location, and only one on camera (the bathroom "set" lifting away). [3] In "Questions", there were more frequent changes of location with more extravagant transitions. Mustafa begins at a shower station on the beach. The scenery splits in half (as do false legs and a towel) and pulls away to reveal Mustafa log rolling before he walks across the surface of a lake (catching a falling cake mid-stride) into a kitchen (power-sawing a countertop mid-stride) to the top of a waterfall, which he "swan dives" off into a hot tub, which then collapses to reveal that Mustafa is sitting on a motorcycle, his shorts having been replaced by jeans. He performs the entire commercial without breaking eye contact with the camera, while addressing female viewers and asking rhetorical questions on what they like, implying that if their man used Old Spice, then he could bring them these things. [11]

The ad was again shot primarily in one take, involving an automatically rolling log, an under-water platform, and a set consisting of the kitchen, waterfall and hot tub containing water and a motorcycle. The walls of the hot tub were rigged to mechanically rise and lower. Support wires were used to control Mustafa's dive from the waterfall. Footage of rehearsals of the ad begin with the log-rolling, suggesting that the opening beach segment may include separately shot or computer-generated elements. The background also appears to be enhanced. [12]

"Scent Vacation"

Responding to interest in the creation of the previous spots, an official behind-the-scenes video was released for "Scent Vacation". [13] It reveals that much of the ad is again produced practically, with some camera tricks. [13] For his dive from the mountaintop, Mustafa was raised on wires as the camera spun to simulate Mustafa's movement. Ultimately, the living room in which Mustafa is shown was built against a vertical wall, and the camera was rotated 90 degrees to make the room appear normally oriented.

Unlike the previous commercials, which were shot outdoors, "Scent Vacation" was shot on a soundstage. More computer-generated imagery was used in this commercial than in the prior ads. The sand and sky of the initial beach scene and the entire mountain backdrop were added in post-production; wires were painted out, as were seams where two scenery pieces came together; fish were added to the aquarium; chocolate was added to a fondue fountain in the living room, and a stick of fondue foods was added to Mustafa's hand.

Two 15-second spots were produced, entitled "Fiji" and "Komodo" after two of the scents in the product line. In "Fiji", a beach scene is shown as Mustafa's voice is heard. Mustafa rises from beneath the sand with an acoustic guitar, which he opens to reveal that it contains puppies.

In "Komodo", Mustafa appears to stand at the base of a hill atop which sits an ancient palace. The palace is revealed to be a miniature, as Mustafa opens the front wall to reveal the product. He then walks over to a Komodo dragon and pulls open its back to reveal a cooler containing ice cream.

The three spots share a common thread of misleading items containing other items. Aside from the guitar, the palace and the Komodo dragon, in "Scent Vacation" Mustafa also picks up a mountain goat, which he spins around to reveal a harp. [14]

Additional materials

In 2018, Mustafa appeared in one of Tide's Super Bowl LII commercials. The ad was one of several crossovers in which other commercials (including other Procter & Gamble brands' advertising campaigns for Old Spice and Mr. Clean) segued into Tide ads because all of the clothes in them were fresh and clean, including Mustafa's white pants. [15] In 2019, Mustafa appeared in an ad for Hulu that parodied these commercials.

Reception

The New York Daily News gave the initial ad a favorable mention, citing Mustafa's "wildly smug, cool-cat smooth dude persona", which "helped make the cologne commercial pop". [16] People magazine's Blane Bachelor called Mustafa's monologue "sharply scripted" and his character "smug, and over the top". [17] The commercial was a hit on video-sharing websites, such as YouTube, where it had received over 60 million views by February 22, 2022. [1] In June 2010 the ad won the Grand Prix for film at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, [18] and in July 2010 it won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Commercial. [19]

The created feeling of connection between the Old Spice Man and the audience, known as a parasocial relationship, [20] was important to the campaign's success. [21] Overall this combined with the original ad series to become one of the "most popular viral campaigns in recent history". [22]

The spot has been parodied on Sesame Street , where the monster Grover takes Mustafa's role to illustrate the word 'on'. [23] However, his narrations do not go as smoothly: the dropped shirt fails to fall around his neck; the clam containing the tickets bites his nose, forcing him to fling it away; and despite claiming he is on a horse at the end, he is actually on a cow. [24]

There was also a parody released in 2011, close to the release of the film Puss in Boots, [25] [26] and in 2019, featuring Mustafa, to advertise Hulu. [27]

It was parodied by How It Should Have Ended for an episode on It Chapter Two , in which the character Mike (who is played by Mustafa in the film) puts his own spin on the commercial's lines. [28]

In 2018, Tide released a series of Super Bowl advertisements. One commercial featured Mustafa performing part of "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like". [29]

See also

Related Research Articles

Saatchi and Saatchi is a British multinational communications and advertising agency network with 114 offices in 76 countries and over 6,500 staff. It was founded in 1970 and is currently headquartered in London. The parent company of the agency group was known as Saatchi and Saatchi PLC from 1976 to 1994, was listed on the New York Stock Exchange until 2000 and, for a time, was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. In 2000, the group was acquired by the Publicis Groupe. In 2005 it went private.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Spice</span> American brand of male grooming products

Old Spice is an American brand of male grooming products encompassing aftershaves, deodorants and antiperspirants, shampoos, body washes, shaving cream, and soaps. It is manufactured by Procter & Gamble.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Febreze</span> Brand of household odor eliminators manufactured by Procter & Gamble

Febreze is an American brand of household odor eliminators manufactured by Procter & Gamble. It is sold in North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.

Ivory is an American flagship personal care brand created by the Procter & Gamble Company (P&G), including varieties of white and mildly scented bar soap that became famous for its claim of purity and for floating on water. Over the years, the brand has been extended to other varieties and products.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Super Bowl commercials</span> Television commercials during the Super Bowl

Super Bowl commercials, colloquially known as Super Bowl ads, are high-profile television commercials featured in the U.S. television broadcast of the Super Bowl, the championship game of the National Football League (NFL). Super Bowl commercials have become a cultural phenomenon of their own alongside the game itself, as many viewers only watch the game to see the commercials. Many Super Bowl advertisements have become well known because of their cinematographic quality, unpredictability, surreal humor, and use of special effects. The use of celebrity cameos has also been common in Super Bowl ads. Some commercials airing during, or proposed to air during the game, have also attracted controversy due to the nature of their content.

Grey Group is a global advertising and marketing agency with headquarters in New York City, and 432 offices in 96 countries, operating in 154 cities. It is organized into four geographical units: North America; Europe, Middle East and Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wieden+Kennedy</span> Independent American advertising agency

Wieden+Kennedy is an American independent global advertising agency best known for its work for Nike. Founded by Dan Wieden and David Kennedy, and headquartered in Portland, Oregon, it is one of the largest independently owned advertising agencies in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Procter & Gamble</span> American multinational consumer goods corporation

The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer health, personal care and hygiene products; these products are organized into several segments including beauty; grooming; health care; fabric and home care; and baby, feminine, and family care. Before the sale of Pringles to Kellogg's, its product portfolio also included food, snacks, and beverages. P&G is incorporated in Ohio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Kuntz</span> American director and filmmaker

Tom Kuntz is an American director and filmmaker who is most known for his unique television commercials and music videos, which either have colorful settings, time-lapse photography or wildly eccentric humans. He has enjoyed multiple nominations for the honor of ‘Best Commercial Director of the Year’ by the DGA

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Secret (deodorant brand)</span> Antiperspirant/deodorant for women by Procter & Gamble

Secret is an antiperspirant/deodorant for women manufactured by Procter & Gamble. It is sold in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Secret was launched as the first female deodorant in 1956, after more than 10 years of research that began in 1945. Secret is the only female brand antiperspirant/deodorant in Procter & Gamble's portfolio of products, which includes male brands Gillette and Old Spice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heat (perfume)</span> Perfume endorsed by Beyoncé

Heat is a perfume endorsed by Beyoncé. It was created by her alongside Claude Dir and Olivier Gillotin of the company Givaudan. The product, which was released on February 3, 2010, uses the tagline "catch the fever". The release was promoted with a cover version of "Fever" recorded by Beyoncé and a limited edition extended play (EP) also titled Heat. She also appeared at Macy's Herald Square to launch the perfume and on The Today Show where she discussed about Heat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isaiah Mustafa</span> American actor and football player

Isaiah Amir Mustafa is an American actor and former American football wide receiver. Mustafa is widely known as the main character in a series of Old Spice television commercials, "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like". He is also known for portraying Luke Garroway on Freeform's fantasy series Shadowhunters and adult Mike Hanlon in It Chapter Two.

Reply marketing, is a form of viral marketing where an advertiser/marketer replies directly to an end-user with an advertisement or a personalized message. It is a means of marketing designed to generate an immediate response from consumers, where each consumer response can be measured, and later attributed to the corresponding advertising channel. Television, radio, social media, search engine marketing, print, phone, internet, and mail serve as the typical channels for this type of advertisement, with e-mail being the most effective form of direct response. It was first introduced in 2010 by Old Spice, with its well-known viral ads featuring actor Isaiah Mustafa. Mustafa, though, replied to numerous potential users simultaneously via an amusing video on YouTube. Recipients were persons who were commenting about various videos via Twitter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lamp (advertisement)</span> 2002 commercial directed by Spike Jonze

Lamp is a television and cinema advertisement released in September 2002 to promote the IKEA chain of furniture stores in the United States. The 60-second commercial was the first part of the "Unböring" campaign conceived by advertising agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky, and follows a lamp abandoned by its owner. It was produced by the production company Morton/Jankel/Zander, and was directed by Spike Jonze. Post-production and editing was handled by Spot Welders and sound design by the California-based MIT Out Sound. The commercial aired concurrently with another IKEA piece in the same vein, titled Moo Cow. Lamp, and its associated campaign, was a popular, critical, and financial success. Sales of IKEA furniture increased by eight percent during the period in which the commercial ran, and Lamp received a number of awards, including a Grand Clio and the Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, considered the most prestigious accolade granted by the advertising community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Make a Smellmitment</span> Old Spice advertising campaign

Make a Smellmitment is an advertising campaign created by Wieden+Kennedy for Old Spice in the United States. The campaign is preceded by "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like", which was a television advertising campaign by Wieden+Kennedy for Old Spice.

Team One, an advertising agency based in Los Angeles, California, is a division of Saatchi & Saatchi. It was founded in 1987 and focuses on luxury products and services.

Pablo del Campo is an Argentine advertising executive, entrepreneur, and author. He is the founder of Del Campo Saatchi & Saatchi, an agency within the Saatchi & Saatchi and Publicis Groupe networks. Del Campo has earned recognition as a creative executive, having received accolades for his work in Argentina's advertising industry.

David Gray is an American filmmaker, commercial director, and former creative director at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners and BBDO. He has worked with numerous brands including Nike, Visa, American Express, Microsoft, FedEX, Time Warner, Showtime, Volkswagen, and GEICO.

The Spice Girls are an English girl group that first came to international prominence in 1996 with the release of their debut single "Wannabe". The following year, they became involved in a prolific marketing phenomenon, leading to an unprecedented number of Spice Girls merchandise and sponsorship deals. With their name attached to numerous sponsors including Pepsi, Cadbury and Polaroid, and the official Spice Girls branding on hundreds of different product tie-ins, they quickly became the most merchandised group in music history. Their global merchandising efforts alone brought in over £300 million in 1997, while the group's total grosses were estimated at US$500–800 million by May 1998.

Christina Aguilera Fragrances is a perfume brand by American singer-songwriter Christina Aguilera. It was founded in 2007 in a deal with Procter & Gamble (P&G), who manufactured the products until 2016, after its production and distribution rights were bought out by Elizabeth Arden, Inc. In addition to fragrances, the brand has also worked with the production and sale of other cosmetics, including body lotions, body sprays, bath gels, and deodorants.

References

  1. 1 2 "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like". YouTube .
  2. ↑ Old Spice campaign video page
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 The making of Old Spice's commercial: The Man Your Man Could Smell Like (video).
  4. ↑ Eliza Williams, "Cannes Lions 2010: The Winners", Creative Review , 28 June 2010.
  5. ↑ "Old Spice's Extreme Makeover", BusinessWeek Online , November 1, 2004.
  6. 1 2 Dan Sewell, "Old Spice pitch man now on a motorcycle", Associated Press, June 30, 2010.
  7. ↑ "Old Spice moves account to W&K", Campaign , February 15, 2006.
  8. ↑ Behind The Scenes video of one of the takes of the original commercial
  9. ↑ Eleftheria Parpis, "Spice It Up", Adweek, July 26, 2010.
  10. 1 2 Old Spice: Did You Know I'm Riding This Horse Backwards?
  11. ↑ "Old Spice | Questions". YouTube . Archived from the original on 2021-12-15.
  12. ↑ Behind the Scenes video of "Questions" rehearsal with a stand-in
  13. 1 2 Scent Vacation - Behind The Scenes
  14. ↑ Scent Vacation
  15. ↑ "Every Ad Is a Tide Ad: Inside Saatchi and P&G's Clever Super Bowl Takeover Starring David Harbour". Adweek. Retrieved 2018-02-06.
  16. ↑ Dziemianowicz, Joe (2010-02-25). "Old Spice's 'the man your man could smell like,' Isaiah Mustafa, gets big break with hit commercial". New York Daily News .
  17. ↑ Bachelor, Blane (2010-02-24). "Meet the Hot New Old Spice Guy". People .
  18. ↑ Wentz, Laurel. "Old Spice's Manly Body Wash TV Spot Takes Film Grand Prix". Creativity Online. Crain Communications. Retrieved 14 July 2010.
  19. ↑ Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (2010-07-08). "62nd Primetime Emmy Awards Complete Nomination List" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-22.
  20. ↑ Turner, Graeme (2014). Understanding celebrity. p. 102.
  21. ↑ D&AD (2011). "Old Spice Response campaign Case Study".
  22. ↑ Ehrlich, Brenna (2010-07-15). "The Old Spice Social Media Campaign by the Numbers". Mashable .
  23. ↑ Kelly, Cathal (12 October 2010). "Old Spice Guy gets Sesame Spoofed". Toronto Star. Retrieved 13 October 2010.
  24. ↑ "Sesame Street: Smell Like A Monster". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-15. Retrieved 13 October 2010.
  25. ↑ Han, Angie (2011-09-26). "Video: 'Puss In Boots' Is The Cat Your Cat Could Act Like". /Film. Retrieved 2023-01-16.
  26. ↑ Puss In Boots - "The Cat Haz Swagger" , retrieved 2023-01-16
  27. ↑ Sutton, Kelsey (2019-05-09). "The Original Old Spice Guy Is Back On His Horse to Sell You ... Ad-Free Hulu?". www.adweek.com. Retrieved 2023-01-16.
  28. ↑ How IT Chapter Two Should Have Ended , retrieved 2023-01-16
  29. ↑ Swant, Marty (2018-02-04). "Every Ad Is a Tide Ad: Inside Saatchi and P&G's Clever Super Bowl Takeover Starring David Harbour". www.adweek.com. Retrieved 2023-01-16.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.