Should your man smell like an old spice man? You tell me.

The Old Spice commercials are some of the most powerful and persuasive advertisements I have ever seen. They are all very powerful, but I have chosen the “swan dive” one for this exercise. It is a video that has an extremely good looking, ripped man with a sexy voice who asks the women of the audience to compare their men to “an Old Spice man.” The man in the commercial is the embodiment of a dream guy who does amazing things. At the end of the commercial, he asks the women in the audience if their man “should smell like an old spice man.” It is so powerful because it implies to the women of the audience that if their men used Old Spice body wash, then they would be as amazing as the Old Spice Man. It also instills jealousy and insecurity in the men of the audience because their women are comparing them to a man who is, by far, a better catch than they are. This makes the men want to improve their status, and conveniently, the ad presents using old spice body wash as a way to do this.

Almost all of the advertising appeals discussed in class apply to this add. One of the strongest of these is the achievement. Prominence, and attention appeal. The general characteristics of this type of appeal are that the appeal makes the target audience feel that the product will make them more successful, prominent, and noticeable. Ads that use this appeal try to show the accomplishments that their product will make easier. They also show people who have achievement, prominence and popularity so that the audience will associate the product with those characteristics.

The Old Spice commercial exemplifies this appeal because it asks the audience to compare men who don’t use old spice body wash to the old spice man, who is the embodiment of achievement prominence and attention. For example, the ability to build a kitchen by hand that is referenced is an appeal to achievement. The popularity of the old spice man is an appeal to prominence. And the fact that women pay attention to the commercial is an appeal for men’s desire for attention. Overall, the ad is very effective and entertaining.