I have a confession: I'm the son of an old spice man. It is an aroma that frames the memories of my youth. And I remember the jingle whistled by that sexy sailor in the swarthy navy jacket with the duffle bag over his shoulder.Fast forward to 2010 and a totally different compelling new Old Spice spokesperson. The commercials got the buzz going, and then Old Spice took its popular television ad campaign featuring a half-naked, baritone-voiced, campy ladies man and brought it to YouTube. They had the actor, Isaiah Mustafa, create 186 brief responses to actually people asking questions via the internet, like this one:
Pithy, clever, sometimes even funny; and, yes, sexy. On face I really like it. However, here's the problem. Old Spice is our father's cologne. Old men buy it. Old white men, not to put to fine a point on it. So when you hire a sexy, Obama-esque actor to pimp your product, you're certainly not doing it to impress the people who are now using your product. And do younger women really want their husbands smelling like there father's? Okay, you might get the attention of the gay community, but overall the numbers have not corresponded to the hype. Since going on view, sales of Old Spice have reportedly dropped by 7%. I heard this on NPR, so I hope it's not another FOX news smear campaign against African Americans to foment racial division and social strife....but you never can tell with that crowd.
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