Ad of the Day: Old Spice

Tis the season for a little unexpected star power in commercials. Apple provided it last week by putting Zooey Deschanel and Samuel L. Jackson in its latest iPhone spots. Now, Old Spice features a humorous cameo by Heather Graham in its brand-new campaign for Old Spice Champion. The Champion line (deodorant, anti-perspirant/deodorant, body wash and body spray) celebrates the true champion in every man and "gives them the motivation and self-confidence to win in the game of life," says Old Spice agency Wieden + Kennedy. Like its other recent Old Spice work, the new ads are humorously hyperbolic. In the 30-second spot below, a skinny hero is seen amping himself up by listening to a self-help tape (on cassette, through absurdly giant old headphones) that reminds him that he has "big muscles and cool hair," sophisticated friends and an environmentally friendly car (made completely of sand). Soon, his superhuman abilities are on full display. He dumps Graham at dinner, much to her surprise, and then wins a horse race—with himself as the horse. The theme extends to a new print ad, with a different guy seen rounding a corner with a jockey on his back. (Horses have a hallowed place in the Old Spice canon. There was the centaur spot a couple of years ago. And of course, Isaiah Mustafa was famously "on a horse" in the Emmy-winning Tom Kuntz ad. You can make the underlying insinuation about the connection between men and horses for yourself.) The new campaign's goofiness this time extends to the tagline, too: "Believe in your smellf"—a comically idiotic slogan that fits nicely within the marketer's larger theme of exaggerated yet self-deprecating manliness. There's nothing revolutionary—or even evolutionary, really—about the new work. But Old Spice clearly doesn't want to mess with a winning formula. And the new effort shows the campaign still has some horsepower left. CREDITS —TV SPOTS Client: Old Spice Project Name: "Believe in Your Smellf" Client Contact: Rishi Dhingra, Michael Sabbia, Dan Jackson WIEDEN + KENNEDY, PORTLAND, ORE. Creative Directors: Jason Bagley, Craig Allen Copywriter: Jason Kreher Art Director: Max Stinson Producer: Jeff Selis Account Team: Michael Dalton, Diana Gonzalez, Yaya Zhang Executive Creative Directors: Mark Fitzloff, Susan Hoffman Agency Executive Producer: Ben Grylewicz PRODUCTION Production Company: Biscuit Filmworks Director: Tim Godsall Managing Director: Shawn Lacy Executive Producer: Holly Vega Line Producer: Rick Jarjoura EDITING Editing Company: Arcade Edit Editor: Geoff Hounsell Post Producer: Ali Reed VISUAL EFFECTS VFX Company: The Mission Studio VFX Supervisor: Rob Trent VFX Producer: Diana Cheng MUSIC AND SOUND DESIGN Music+Sound Company: Tonefarmer Producer: Tiffany Senft MIXING Mixing Company: Lime Mixer: Joel Waters Producer: Jessica Locke —PRINT AND OOH Client: Old Spice Project Name: "Believe in Your Smellf" Client Contact: Rishi Dhingra, Michael Sabbia, Dan Jackson W+K, PORTLAND Creative Directors: Craig Allen, Jason Bagley Copywriter: Jason Kreher Art Director: Max Stinson Typographer: Matthew Carroll Account Team: Michael Dalton, Diana Gonzalez, Yaya Zhang Project Manager: Jane Monaghan Art Buyer: Kimberly Wilder Photographer: Clive Stewart Executive Creative Directors: Mark Fitzloff, Susan Hoffman RETOUCHING Agency: W+K Re-touchers: Frazer Goodbody, Amy Corcoran, Greg Radich, Saskia Thomson —INTERACTIVE Client: Old Spice Project Name: "Believe in Your Smellf" Client Contact: Rishi Dhingra, Michael Sabbia, Dan Jackson W+K, PORTLAND Creative Directors: Jason Bagley, Craig Allen Copywriter: Jason Kreher Art Director: Max Stinson Producer: Andrea Nelson Account Team: Yaya Zhang Executive Creative Directors: Mark Fitzloff, Susan Hoffman Agency Executive Producer: Ben Grylewicz Developer: By Hook LLC Digital Designers: Ojai Mitchell, Matthew Carroll Executive Interactive Producer: Pierre Wendling Art Buying: Heather Smith-Harvey Photographer: Swanson Studios DEVELOPMENT PARTNER Development Partner Company: By Hook LLC

Brand Marketing

Ad of the Day: Old Spice

Brand's Champion products give you the confidence to break up with Heather Graham

Tim Nudd

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Tim Nudd