Lindsey Aldrich
Eng 2070
Project #2: Rhetorical Analysis
Old Spice Advertisement: SMELL LIKE A MAN, MAN.
“Do you want a man who can bake you a gourmet cake in the dream kitchen that he built
for you with his own hands? Of course you do.” Old Spice man asks his audience this question
among a series of other rhetorical questions as he transitions, to continuously fit the image of the
perfect man. The commercial begins with an attractive, charismatic Old Spice man standing in a
towel bare-chested, on the beach holding a bottle of Old Spice. He associates being an attractive
model man, with using Old Spice body wash. He then transitions into an adventurous man
wearing khaki shorts, walking on a log, and then walking on water. After he carries said gourmet
cake into the dream kitchen, he swan dives off a waterfall, into a hot tub. The commercial ends
with the man sitting on a motorcycle holding a bottle of Old Spice body wash; modeling being
both an Old Spice man and the ideal man, with the slogan SMELL LIKE A MAN, MAN. Old
Spice, in the background. Humor is achieved by the tone that is set. The ad campaign is funny to
a point that the commercial is pretty much making fun of itself. The sex appeal is apparent as the
bare-chested man sells the product of a man, man. The product name and logo are repeated and
shown throughout the entire ad, making repetition a strong selling point. This advertisement is
effective because it appeals to a wide audience using humor, sex appeal, and repetition to sell the
product.
Women like attractive men, but they also like men who are adventurous, handy,
charismatic, and intriguing. In 30 seconds Old Spice man manages to embody all of these
characteristics all the while shirtless, holding a bottle of body wash or repeating the Old Spice
product name. He quickly transitions through the scenes using humor to enact women’s fantasies
of the perfect man, whether it be a man who can both cook and be handy, or an adventurous man
who can treat a lady to the night of her life. He is all of these things. Old Spice is all of these
things. The commercial is selling an image; the image of the ideal man, and the ideal man just
so happens to be an Old Spice man. Selling this image, sells the product, to men and women
alike.
This is how Old Spice, a men’s product line, is most clever and successful in their ad
campaign; they appeal to women, and actually address them as the audience. The commercial
begins with the Old Spice man addressing his questions towards the ladies. Ladies then become
the engaged audience. Ladies are now more likely to buy the product or encourage those men in
her life to buy the product. As Old Spice successfully sells their product to women they are
selling to: girlfriends, wives, mothers, sisters, aunts, etc. Generally, when commercials are
addressed at women, they do not grab the attention of men, and men are most likely not going to
be persuaded to buy the product. Not only does this product appeal to women who may want
their man to be an Old Spice man, but to men who want to smell manly and be the ideal kind of
man the Old Spice man is. This product is for men, so men still are attracted to and influenced by
the commercial to, “Smell like a man, man.” Old Spice successfully appeals to female and male
audiences alike. Appealing to such a wide audience can be quite advantageous in the market
competition. Not only is Old Spice trying to sell their product, but they are also trying to get their
audience to choose Old Spice over other products.
The commercial is able to successfully sell their image by using humor and sex appeal.
The humor aspect of the product endorsement is enjoyed by both female and male audiences,
particularly among younger adult audiences. The humor is there not in only the words he says,
but how he says them. Old Spice does not use blatant sarcasm, but rather uses a caricature of the
perfect man. The best line that expresses this is when he asks, “Do you want a man who can bake
you a gourmet cake in the dream kitchen that he built for you with his own hands?” Before
women would have the chance to answer, he confidently and assuredly responds, “Of course you
do.” He exaggerates what a perfect man would be like by embodying all of the typical
stereotypes, and because of that, many find this comical. Additionally, the commercial is very
fast paced with no pauses between transitions. He is constantly moving and speaking. This helps
keep the audience’s attention. Some of the individual transitions are amusing on their own, but
the commercial is more about the sum of its parts. When the transitions come together to form a
smooth, final product it is very humorous and attractive.
The shirtless man is fit, handsome, and charismatic. Women want him; men want to be
like him. The images are varied, but still have the constant theme of Old Spice man standing
shirtless, full of charm, enticing his audience. The lack of shirt adds just enough sexuality; not
only is he speaking and performing the acts the perfect man would, but he looks good while
doing it. Whether it be on a log or on a motorcycle, he looks good. Old Spice man begins on a
beach, transitions to a river, walks through a kitchen, dives from a waterfall, lands in a hot tub,
and ends sitting on a motorcycle. He is fulfilling a multitude of roles, in a variety of settings, and
is doing so seemingly well, in very quick succession. As the scenes transition Old Spice man
poses a number of rhetorical questions, some of which he answers, each time giving responses
ladies would view as favorable. He is implying that ladies rightfully desire and deserve the
perfect man. The tone appeals to humor, stereotyping what women believe to be the perfect man,
while poking a bit of fun, but doing so charismatically. Old Spice man encourages ladies to
“swan dive into the best night of your life!” Implying that an Old Spice man would provide such
a night. Men can aspire to fulfill these roles, and women can both desire and laugh about their
desire to expect a man who fulfills all these roles; as if such a man even exists. The
advertisement delivers the message that the best place to start in enacting these roles, is by using
Old Spice body wash, and to begin smelling like a man, man.
In our society we are bombarded with images continuously, every day; because we are so
bombarded with images, we are selective about which images actually grab our attention. By just
turning on the television, flipping through a magazine, or looking at billboards, one can see that
in our society, sex sells. Commercials that are too sexualized can be offensive or just seen as
over the top, thus turning certain audiences away. However, when using just a bit of sexuality,
enough to catch the audiences’ attention, as shirtless, handsome Old Spice man does, and then
mixing that sexuality with humor, the result is many people being attracted to and amused by the
advertisement. Old Spice man appears bare chested, with a tone body and large muscles; both his
voice and face are attractive. Old Spice is definitely selling an appealing image. They are
associating their men’s hygiene products with enticing smells, sexuality, charm, humor, and
desire. They are selling the image of the ideal man. As the scenes transition and Old Spice man
is fulfilling all these desired manly roles, he is doing so with ease, and he is reinforcing these
qualities and roles with the Old Spice brand. He is building a kitchen and presenting a baked
cake at the same time! Their advertising strategy proves to be quite effective in winning audience
favor.
Old Spice takes an effective approach, selling men’s hygiene products, by appealing to a
female audience. Though Old Spice targets and appeals to females, they do sell men’s hygiene
products, thus, also attracting males and running an ad campaign that males can enjoy. The
constant lack of shirt is just enough sex appeal to catch the audiences’ attention, without driving
them away. The caricature of the perfect man easily enacting a variety of roles is entertaining for
females and males. Additionally the commercial uses quick transitions and repetition to keep the
audiences’ attention and to enforce the association of Old Spice with the ideal man. Old Spice
sells their image as representing the perfect man, and hey if you can’t be him, well you can at
least smell like him. With a humorous undertone and just enough sex appeal, the ad campaign is
funny, attractive, appealing, and thus effective.