“Hello, ladies. Look at your man. Now back to me. Now back at your man. Then back to me. Sadly, he isn’t me.”
Chances are, this quote from a 2010 Old Spice commercial sounds familiar. You may even be one of the 35,000,000 (and counting) that viewed the advertisement on YouTube. In fact, the thirty-three second video quickly became the most frequently watched commercial of the year.
“The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” commercial was an instant hit when it aired on televisions everywhere in 2010. An impressive feat, considering our modern age of TiVo and DVR devices allowing people everywhere to fast-forward through advertisements. Gaining publicity via televisions is simply not as easy as it once was, making popular, sticky messages more essential than ever.
So what makes this commercial so popular with viewers? Many credit the advertisement’s success to its implementation of random humor and pure absurdity. The deep, dramatic voice of the leading man, Isaiah Mustafa, and ridiculous dialogue quickly captured viewer attention, leaving them wanting more. This desire was easily filled by visiting Old Spice’s YouTube channel, which contains all of their advertisements. Millions of views later, a viral-commercial was born.
Old Spice’s use of comedy is no joke, however, when it comes to the bottom line, as they have only experienced an increase in press/brand recognition since the launch of the campaign. PR and Marketing professionals everywhere can clearly look to “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” when embarking on future campaigns.
PRagmatically Speaking 