Analyzing Old Spice's Bold Advertising Strategy

The sample for this advertisement analysis is the ad 'Your Man could smell like' by Old Spice. For many years Old Spice has been a top product in the body wash for men. Old Spice is most known for its persuasive message techniques to grab an audience. They use this in a way to where they can not only convince men into buying their products but for a woman to buy them for a significant other. Since its 2019 and we live in a more modern time where commercials have been shaped to almost entertain us while promoting the product. 

As you watch the ad you know within seconds who the ad is geared towards as stated by Mustafa referencing “hello ladies” to open the advertisement. That common statement “hello ladies” immediately grabs the attention of a woman so we know who this advertisement is mainly geared towards. With Mustafa giving a flirtatious smirk and twinkling eyes and a raise of his eyebrows, you could start to see the “manly” image represented in the opening of the advertisement. 

When analyzing the advertisement, we see some humor and sarcasm to reach out to the audience it’s trying to grab. It appeals to the audience by trying to convince the user that if you buy this product you will “transform” into this “man” by using this product. We can already assume that the ad already thinks we, women, are disappointed in our men for not reflecting the same type of manly look as the presenter in the advertisement. 

Also, the advertiser assumes that your man is using “lady scented body wash” so this gives a claim that your man isn’t manly enough and doesn’t compare to Mustafa. By showing that they used actor Isaiah Mustafa, in the beginning, he shows humor right off by giving the audience some interaction with the ad. He gives them interaction by having them act according to what he says “look at your man. Now back at me”. This also plays a part in the engagement that the advertiser is trying to get. 

Next we will analyze the role of humor throughout the advertisement. By keeping random events happening throughout the ad keeps the audience engaged and entertained while watching. For instance, almost at the end of the ad, the man states “Anything is possible when your man smells like a man and not a lady. I’m on a horse” this is a way to entertain the audience with humor to the situation. Mustafa creates an image to the female audience that 'your man' could smell like a man but not physically become a man, just like how Mustafa is the man that not only has tickets to your favorite 'thing', also even diamonds to impress a lady. By using those scenes in the commercial it creates irony to show exaggeration of what old spice 'could do' for your man. Old spice really can't make your man flip oysters into tickets and tickets into pearls, the product just makes your man smell good. But by using the irony old spice smell good just like diamonds and tickets. 

The next point of this ad analysis is tone. The tone that the actor uses sounds very confident as if the old spice gives it to him to give him a “man” quality. The tone of voice that Mustafa uses throughout the advertisement adds to humor. Also, the ridiculous scenes and crazy pictures are shown because Mustafa is going through dramatic backgrounds but still kept an unfazed straight face while delivering his message to the audience. this adds humor and also makes the add more appealing to the viewer. Also, it reinforces Mustafa's message that if you purchase and use old spice you will get what you desire. 

The main goal that the Old Spice advertisement is trying to achieve is to still have males buy the product for themselves and they still have the main female audience to buy the product for her significant other. A way to achieve high sales is to attract bigger audiences to your product. With the public accepting this product, approval, and enjoyment of the product, after a few short months, the advertisement on YouTube gained 19 million views. A report made by Carl Nielson shows that previous old spice sales have risen over 55% in 3 months. Since the release of the 'your Man could smell like' video has gained 49 million views with over 40,000 comments and 3,000 dislikes. However, the results from the advertisement made a big impact on the company with skyrocketing sales and popularity of the product. Old Spice no longer smells like a man, it smells like victory. Body wash isn't essentially one thing that's exciting enough to grab the viewer’s attention, Usually, men aren't too excited and may not be too into the proper care or products for himself. Although incorporating women into this advertisement may catch her eye since women are more into self-hygiene and may want to buy the product for her man to try. 

As seen from this advertisement analysis essay, with Old Spice trying to affiliate women with their products brings in a man and women audience, therefore bringing in more sales. Old Spice uses the image 'manly' to give the watcher a view of what Old Spice assumes is manly. It also sparks humor too to provoke humor. With the advertisement launching around the same time as the Superbowl, also a time period of men’s body wash booming in the market. Old Spice took the massive fan base and created an advertisement both seeking out to women and men to bring in more sales. The general message to this ad is pretty straightforward if you do not want your man to smell like a lady buy him Old Spice.