Spicing Up Deodorant

Old Spice gets funny and a little bit sexy.

Axe demonstrated that deodorant can be funny and sexy but there's a new deodorant in town. Old Spice is using social media to show that its deodorant is a lot of funny and a little sexy. More importantly, it doesn’t take itself too seriously. The viral spread of the company’s commercials shows that Old Spice knows its audience.

Catch phrases:
“Don't smell like sunsets and baby powder. Smell like jet fighters and punching.”
“We're not saying this body wash will make your man smell into a romantic millionaire jet fighter pilot, but we are insinuating it.”



Old Spice taps into the mimetic nature of online content and its popularity among younger male and female audiences. The online commercials are over the top and comical and have likely spread for this reason. The company also recognizes the role women play in men’s deodorant purchases and appeal directly to it with their body wash commercials. The “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” commercial has 5.7 million views in just over a month on Youtube.

For another example of how the company is engaging online audiences to produce viral content, check out the the “Swaggerize Your Wallet” campaign. Youtube videos are a good choice since it allows the company to measure their success based on views as well as comments.

Although Old Spice is increasing their online exposure, it is a late mover compared to brands like Axe that already produced a massive number of videos for Youtube. Their decision to post videos online indicates an awareness of technological trends but the company is still behind.



Axe experienced over 1.5 million views in two months with their “Axe Clean Your Balls”. Axe videos have millions more hits than the Old Spice ones, but recent Old Spice commercials show an upward trend in popularity.

By fully employing other social media applications, Old Spice has the opportunity to connect with more audiences. Ginger was excited that Old Spice tweeted back at her after she commented on the “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” commercial. Using programs like Twitter will allow the company to make more meaningful connections with key influencers. To impress its viral characteristics, our team is blogging about Old Spice commercials because Ginger was so excited about their reply.

Take a gander at some other views on the Old Spice campaign by looking at blogs by Jaymes, Laura, Evangelia and Tricky P.


Wylie out...