He's on a Horse

You've seen the new Old Spice commercials, right? No? Then watch the 30-second version right now. In fact, I'm going to join you.

Everybody back here now? I first saw that spot a couple of weeks ago, during the Super Bowl, and thought it was nutty and brilliant . . . and probably cooked up on a computer. I mean, a bathroom, a boat, a horse? How else could they have done it?

Well, Leo LaPorte of Twit.TV asked the same question, and to get the answer he went to the source: copywriter Eric Kallman and art director Craig Allen of Portland ad agency Wieden+Kennedy. Watch the 19-minute video to learn how the ad was really made. And then keep reading for more Old Spice-y lore.

As promised:

1. Want more of The Man Your Man Could Smell Like? You know you do. Here's an L.A. Times interview with The Man himself, football player-turned-actor Isaiah Mustafa. Oh, and you can follow him on Twitter. (His location: "On a horse.")

2. When I wasn't looking at TMYMCSL, I was thinking about two (G-rated) things. The first was the Lyle Lovett song "If I Had a Boat," which includes the line, "If I had a pony, I'd ride him on my boat."

3. And the second thing was "Roger and Elaine," by Dave Barry. Because of ... well, just read it.

4. I am old enough to remember a version of this black-and-white Old Spice commercial, with its pineapple-bottomed mermaids and the mysterious-to-my-young-ears word "bo'sun." Hear the whistle? That's Toots Thieleman, better known as a jazz guitarist harmonica player.

5. The Shulton Company, which created Old Spice, was founded in 1934. Its original product was a women's fragrance, Early American Old Spice. Old Spice for men, packaged in the distinctive buoy-shaped bottle, was introduced in 1938. Procter & Gamble bought the Shulton Company in 1990.

6. Other actors who have been featured in Old Spice ads have included Bruce Campbell, Neil Patrick Harris, and John Bennett Perry, father of Friends co-star Matthew Perry.

7. OK, back to the original ad. See the page title? Manmercials! And they said all the good man-words were taken.

(Manmercials link via Martin Bishop.)

Comments

[Susan]

Brain about to explode with conflicting images. On the one hand, there's Isaiah. Sigh. On the other, there's my late grandfather (may he rest in peace), the only man I've ever known who used Old Spice. My father (may he also rest in peace) was a more modern man than Pop-pop. He used Mennen.

[panavia999]

Very clever commercial and most important very humorous. I record TV shows so I can fast forward through commercials. This was the first commercial in a lonnnggg time where I reran the tape to watch a few times.
The blurb on the youtube clip is cute "We're not saying this body wash will make your man smell into a romantic millionaire jet fighter pilot, but we are insinuating it."

[Nancy Friedman]

Panavia: I agree that this spot is very funny, but wouldn't say that humor is *always* the "most important" factor in an ad's effectiveness. Consider, for example, deBeers's long-running "A Diamond Is Forever."

[westwood]

I can't believe those old ads were ever actually effective. But I'm sure they'll say that about our ads in 20 yers. Scratch that... I'm not sure how our ads are effective now.

[panavia999]

Hi Nancy,
I'm sure you are correct. I love your blog because I am a word nerd, but I look at advertising with a gimlet eye. The first thing I do when I get a magazine is tear out pages that contain only advertising - which reduces some by half. The only hook that gets my attention in advertising is humor (and horses.) Children in advertising are repellant to me. I thought the deBeers ads were hokum, but then all my diamonds were inherited from my grandmother. I don't mean to sound grumpy, but I'll never be in a focus group! Oooh...the Sean Connery luggage ad - I clipped that and pasted it in my notebook of miscellany. Damn, he's eye catching!
Your blog is educational and entertaining. Keep up the good work.