Old Spice – The Man Your Man Could Smell Like
Tall, dark, muscular, wealthy, and handsome man is every woman’s dream since the dawn of
time. In Old Spice’s commercial “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” they use rhetorical devices such
as glittering generalities and a testimonial to persuade the audience that by using their product they can
transfer their man into the one of their dreams. This analysis will also proceed to explore whether or not
gender stereotypes work in advertising and argue if they are ethical.
Old Spice traditionally embodies the image as something your grandfather would use. It was
founded in 1937 and was very big in shaving soap and after shave lotion. Old Spice had made attempts
to break into the detergent line multiple times without much success. Much of this failure was causes
because they couldn’t sell to the younger demographic. Using their traditional scent, revamping their
packaging, and a new marketing scheme they not only made it to fair market share, they became the
leader in men’s detergent. Advertisements such as the one like “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like”
they attracted the young audience while also keeping their traditional look they still kept their older
customers.
We are surrounded with gender stereotypes everywhere we look. Since a young age boys
traditionally played with cars and superheroes while girls got to play with dolls and cooking sets. These
roles that are placed on us by society based on our gender are used in advertising all the time to attract
buyers. Theses consumers are buying these products to fit into the social norm or to create an image of
themselves that portray certain qualities. In today’s world the gender roles have dramatically changed
from 50 years ago. The traditional family has seen the effects of these changes as well. Men traditionally
were the breadwinners of the family while the wife stayed home and raised the children while taking
care of household chores. In 1967 49% of woman were stay at home mothers, compared to 2012 where
only 29% were stay at home moms, according to PewResearch. You would think with these large
changes in gender roles that commercials would follow suit, but really the opposite is happening.
Marketing to a targeted audience is practiced more and more frequently. In “The Man Your Man Could
Smell Like” they are amplifying these gender stereotypes to sell their product. Isiah Mustafa the man in
the commercial is the poster boy of the “ideal man.” They create the image that this is what boys should
grow up to be like, and girls should look for in a man.
Is there a problem with gender based commercials? I believe there is. The problem I see with
targeting gender in advertising is that we are creating roles for each other in society. I myself am a firm
believer in the role of a family. In my opinion there should be a caregiver for the children who is around
the home often, while I also believe that families clearly need financial support. Although to me it
doesn’t matter whether or not the woman is the caregiver or the financial supporter. I see no problem
with a stay at home father, I would actually love to be a stay at home father one day. With that said I
also see no problem with family consisting of gay partners, male or female, as long as the family roles
are filled. The problem with all of this is that we are forcing these roles on society and not letting people
express who they really are, from an early age, all the way till we die. Therefore I believe targeting
different genders in advertising and creating these roles for society can be unethical.
In the advertisement Old Spice targets not just females but females who are in a relationship.
Isaiah Mustafa known as the “Old Spice Man” makes this clear the second the ad starts. He states
“Hello, ladies, look at your man, now back to me, now back at your man, now back to me.” Old Spice
targeted woman for this ad because according to dandad.org “woman were responsible for more than
50 percent of body wash purchases.” Females were attracted to this commercial because it made them
believe the idea of the ideal man could be bought and used to transform their current guy into that
man. In this commercial the Old Spice Man teased woman with products that a woman of luxury
typically enjoys, such as a date night to their favorite show, diamonds, a yacht, and a horse. I found it
hard to believe that in my research I was hard-pressed to find any other men’s hygiene company that
targeted their advertisements towards females. It’s a strategy that worked well for Old Spice as the
video itself reached over forty nine million views and won the award for Funniest Commercial in 2011.
Although the primary audience for the commercial was females it did appeal to the male
audience as well. Men also seek the life of luxury that woman aspire to have. Isaiah does an excellent
job in creating an image that men would look up to and portrays qualities that “typical men” aspire to
see in themselves. He comes off as extremely wealthy, quite sophisticated, and portrays the personality
of a ladies man. Men understand the message is directed to woman and that attracts them to use the
product because put simply men want ladies. If the commercial underlying message is that ladies want
men who wear that product men are going to buy it, quick.
Ethos is established in this commercial through a testimonial. Isaiah Mustafa played football for
the Arizona State Sun Devils in 1995 and the famed team went undefeated all season before losing to
Ohio State in the Rosebowl that year. After college he advanced to the professional ranks, but his career
was short lived only lasting 3 years bouncing around between teams. Isaiah then took his talents to
acting, he began in television working in 2007 working for various shows such as NCIS, Ugly Betty, and
Chuck. Isaiah was not that well known when the commercials were aired, it was his background as both
an athlete and actor that appealed to Old Spice. These backgrounds helped formed the image for the
advertisement. This “ideal man” or “perfect man” would make sense to be played by a person that has
been successful in many different areas. Isaiah background and his handsome looks embrace the goal of
the commercial.
“Anything is possible when your man smells like Old Spice and not a lady.” Isaiah Mustafa tells
the audience near the end of the commercial. Old Spice effectively uses pathos by the use of glittering
generalities in this commercial. Old Spice gives us the feeling that a life of luxury can be bought in a body
wash. This can be seen again when Isaiah states “Look down, back up, where are you? You’re on a boat
with the man your man could smell like” While on set Isaiah is seen on a large sail boat, in classic “rich
man” attire that consists of fresh white pants and a polo dress shirt hung over his shoulders while
revealing his bare muscular upper body. He then says “What’s in your hand? Back at me, I have it. It’s an
oyster with two tickets to that thing you love. Look again, the tickets are now diamonds.” Two things
that the traditional woman love, a romantic date to “that thing you love” and diamonds. In the
description of the video on YouTube uploaded by Old Spice they state “We’re not saying this body wash
will make your man smell like a romantic millionaire jet fighter pilot, but we are insinuating it”
In conclusion, we looked at how glittering generalities and testimonial were effectively used to
sell the product. We also discussed the how gender roles are used in advertising and how they can be
seen as unethical. Lastly, Old Spice left us with a few laughs and one of the most recognizable
commercials to air of all time.