In a current ad for Old Spice shampoos, a man’s hair charms a female co-worker, and she writes down her phone number. One viewer of the ad noticed something strange about that number: it was toll-free. More importantly, why didn’t it use 555 for the first three digits like most fictional phone numbers do? There was only one thing to do: call the number and find out. [More]
old spice
Single Bodywash Bottle Trying Not To Be Jealous Of Bottle Couples Selling For Less On Same Shelf
By 1.27.14
Hear those woebegone sighs? They’re the lonely exhalations of a row of “Man-Sized” Old Spice bodywash bottles on the shelf at a Maryland Walmart. See, they’re sad because they know the discerning consumer will skip all 946ml of “Fiji” wash for $7.47 and head straight for the two-bottle value pack with the same amount of product for only $6.97. [More]
Scratch & Sniff Internet Ad Technology Has A Long Way To Go
By 4.23.13
Visitors to the sports section over at The Onion may have thought they were part of an exciting technological experiment this week: a banner ad invited them to check out the world’s first scratch and sniff banner ad. Unfortunately, that dream is as illusory as that of getting a cash reward from Bill Gates for forwarding an e-mail or getting a free iPod for punching an animated monkey. [More]
Shrink Ray Blasts Old Spice Deodorant, Leading To Stench And Sadness
By 4.8.13
Andrew is a regular user of Old Spice deodorant, so he noticed when a packaging change also meant a sizing change. And no, it was not the same brand/fragrance scramble that led another Old Spice user to think that his deodorant, too, had fallen prey to the shrink ray. Nope. This is the same product. [More]
Old Spice Shaves Off .25 Ounces Of Deodorant, Sells For Same Price…Or Does It?
By 1.15.13
Christopher wrote to us with a tale of deodorant woe. Old Spice, part of Procter & Gamble, repackaged his favorite deodorant product, Old Spice Pure Sport, and skimmed a quarter of an ounce off the top while they were at it. Oh no they didn’t! And…well, actually, they didn’t. The problem isn’t so much that Christopher was too hasty to call the packaging change a case of the Grocery Shrink Ray. It’s that Old Spice’s branding is kind of confusing. [More]
At This Point Old Spice Is Just Trying To Out Weird Itself With "Believe In Your Smellf" Campaign
By 9.5.12
One trend in need of dying that we pointed out during last year’s Worst Ad In America contest was the attempt to copy Old Spice’s successful, hilarious ads featuring manly man Isaiah Mustafa. But does it count as copying if it’s Old Spice trying to out weird itself, or just another attempt to achieve bizarre viral video status? In this new offering from Old Spice, Green Bay Packers wide receiver Greg Jennings* stars in an uplifting tale encouraging men to “believe in your smellf.” Just in time for the NFL regular season start tonight, to boot. [More]
P&G Apologizes, Has An Actual Reason For Old Spice Deodorant Shrinkage
By 3.26.12
Consumerist reader Jordan recently copied us on an email he wrote to Procter & Gamble, shaming them for performing the grocery shrink ray on his favorite Old Spice deodorant. But before we could even post his tale of outrage, he received a reasonable explanation and an apology from P&G. Imagine that! [More]
Behind The Scenes Of The New Old Spice Commercial
By 3.4.11
Here’s a behind the scenes look at how they made the new Old Spice commercial where the guy goes from Tahiti to the Alps to his home pleasure pad. I thought they did it all with fancy computer mouse clicks, but actually it’s all shot in one take with a lot of wires and props and set pieces that slide in and out. It’s pretty fantastic, but I would have liked to see the interviewer ask the talent, Isiah “Mr. Old Spice” Mustafa, what thinks about the fact that he is going to go through the rest of his life with people asking if they can smell him. [More]
TV Commercials Getting Shorter, But Are They Getting Any Less Crappy?
By 10.27.10
In case you hadn’t noticed as you fast-forwarded through the ad breaks while watching Biggest Loser, a growing number of those ads you’re not watching are now half the length of the ads you used to have to sit through in the days before DVRs. [More]
Axe Billboard Tries To Dismount Old Spice's "I'm On A Horse"
By 10.20.10
Gag-inducing man-spray Axe is fighting back at Old Spice’s recent buzzed about, equestrian-themed campaign with this billboard that says “Axe is for men who’d rather be with a woman than on a horse.” [More]
College Library Parodies Old Spice Commercials To Coax Students From Dorm Rooms
By 7.16.10
I’m a college librarian by training. One of the challenges in the profession right now is convincing students who have grown up with instantaneous access to information from home that a library has something to offer them. Brigham Young University’s Harold B. Lee Library reached out to students by producing a video that shows off library resources and looks awfully…. familiar. [More]
Old Spice's Brilliant Marketing Your Product Could Market Like
By 7.14.10
We at Consumerist mostly focus on when companies screw up, with some exceptions. We must give credit for brilliant marketing strategies when it is due, though, and yesterday’s personalized YouTube video blitz by Old Spice’s towel-wrapped spokesman, Isaiah “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” Mustafa, qualifies as brilliant. [More]
How On Earth Did They Make That Old Spice Commercial?
By 7.2.10
A new commercial in Old Spice’s “the man your man could smell like” series of ads hit the airwaves and the Internets this week. If you’re not delighted, you should be. The commercials are silly, visually interesting, and–according to their star, the very visually interesting actor Isaiah Mustafa–surprisingly low-tech behind the scenes. [More]
Old Spice Hits New Low, Sponsors "Swagger" Stat In Madden NFL Game
By 6.29.10
A couple weeks back, we discussed the growing trend of in-game ads in video games. And while it’s nothing new for sports games to feature sponsors in the background, the ad folks at Old Spice are breaking new ground, not just sponsoring a portion of the game, but completely fabricating a new statistic — swagger — to slap their name on. [More]
Now You Get To Pay To Be Advertised To As You Play Games
By 4.6.10
Three Old Spice-themed games have lurched onto Xbox Live. Advergames are nothing new on the console, but what’s audacious about this new set of games is you actually have to pay for them, Joystiq reports. [More]
