Old Spice’s New Tricks

Old Spice has a new ad campaign and once you see it you won’t be able to forget it. The brand has made headlines before with their creative commercials and this bizarre new campaign promoting their line of body sprays is no exception. Old Spice has launched the “Smellcome to Manhood” campaign featuring young men, who have recently discovered women, and the mothers they are leaving behind (unsuccessfully, according to the ads). In “Momsong” the frump-ified mothers sing a broadway-like ballad telling their tale of woe: Old Spice has made men of their sons. The mothers appear in a variety of creepy scenarios - hiding behind the bedroom door, hanging onto the bumper of a convertible, popping up from under the sand at the beach, being washed ashore, hiding behind curtains, falling violently from the sky while playing the violin - they seem to get worse as the ad goes on. The ad also uses an effect to make it look like one mom is being dragged from under a couch cushion a la Paranormal Activity. For me, the oddest moment has to be when a janitor in the school lunchroom, who appears to be pretty creepy looking to begin with, turns out to be a mom wearing the janitor costume on her back. While there’s some debate about whether the ad is effective or just unnerving, the fact that it’s already been picked up by Buzzfeed and made into a series of “Momsong" gifs tells me that they’re definitely getting attention from their target audience. What do you think of Smellcome to Manhood?