One of the most famous advertising campaigns of the last decade, Old Spice’s “Smell Like a Man, Man,” was continued earlier this year. For the first time, the appearance of this ad brought the company and its products to a new level of popularity. This reason became an argument in favor of choosing one of the latest Old Spice commercials, “Time out,” for the analysis. Old and new commercials can be easily found on YouTube.
In the new ad, as well as in the original video, Isaiah Mustafa played the main role, and reality changed with incredible ease around him. Moreover, a new hero appeared in the videos – the son of Old Spice Guy played by Keith Powers. At the beginning of the video, the son plays basketball with friends in the gym, his father suddenly appears in skates and kicks a football ball with a hockey stick (Old Spice, 2020). Old Spice Guy talks about the deodorant’s advantages and suddenly finds himself on the jazz stage with a saxophone instead of a stick. Son interrupts the story with another product – Ultra Smooth – more comfortable and practical for him. The plot ends with a white horse’s appearance, on which the main character is sitting, and he is also throwing a ball into the basket. After that, viewers hear that this is a new ad for the new Old Spice.
This ad offers customers Old Spice After Hours and Old Spice Ultra Smooth deodorants, as well as all products of the new Ultra Smooth line. In my opinion, the intended advertising audience is men from 16 to 45 years old, and women who may be interested in buying products for a boyfriend, husband, brother, or father. Advertising with Old Spice Guy was initially aimed at women who were approached by the protagonist. However, in the new video, communication occurs between two generations of men, demonstrating that the product is suitable for both of them.
The main claim of the video ad is that Old Spice can handle sweat “with jazz” or “without all that jazz” (preferred aroma) depending on the customer’s wish. The emphasis of the ad is not on its credibility but creativity and originality. Moreover, the video is brand-oriented advertising representing the manufacturer of products in a memorable and unique plot. However, attractive heroes and unusual scenarios still grasp the attention and arouse consumers’ confidence. The Old Spice videos’ creativity and success suggest that they do not need to make them more credible. However, they can become less credible if they do not invite such charismatic actors to shoot.
Advertising uses rhetorical strategies for greater credibility and reaching customers. “Time out” uses many hyperboles – the main character is attractive and can control reality with the advertised product, although viewers understand that the message of the ad is that the deodorant should add confidence. Also, several cognitive biases were added to the video so that it was more influential. The main ones at Old Spice are the bizarreness effect and humor effect, thanks to which people will remember the products of this company for a long time. What is more, while choosing products in a store, they may prefer it. Recency effect was also used due to which viewers remembered the ad’s final frames – a spectacular horse, and then the products of a new line. Another critical bias used is the bandwagon effect which implies that people tend to choose in favor of certain products if others have already chosen them. Here, actors invited to roles in advertising have a considerable influence.
Reference
Old Spice. (2020). Time out | Old Spice. Web.