Old Spice

So, I skipped out last week without comment. That was because I was out of state and very busy. Sorry about that. I should have at least said something. Still, to make up for it, I'm going to be posting two reviews today. First up, Old Spice!

If you don't know what Old Spice is... where have you been? It's one of the most well-known lines of products for men to help them not smell bad. Cologne, deodorant, aftershave, body wash... you name it, Old Spice probably makes it. And it smells manly.


Yes, more than anything, that is Old Spice's claim to fame: they make manly scents for manly men. It's not hard to see why it works. Most men like being manly. I'm a huge nerd, and about as far from being a jock as one can be. I also pride myself on doing my best to distance myself from being influenced by commercials as I can be. And yet... Old Spice commercials work on me. I may be a nerd, but that doesn't mean I'm not a guy. I like being manly too, just in different ways. I admit it, I let Old Spice advertising effect me. I'm not sure why I do, but using Old Spice products does indeed make me feel manlier. I mean, I know intellectually that it's all in my head, and there is no reason why Old Spice products would inherently make me any more manly than I already am... but they do.

Maybe it's the way they don't go strait to sports. I mean, sure they do sometimes, but even when they do get sports starts or have the commercial take place in a locker room, they manage to tap into something deeper, more manly than sports. Stuff like hairy chests and being sexy for the ladies. Take the Bruce Campbell commercials. Bruce is a pretty manly guy. He hasn't got the biggest muscles ever, but he's got charisma. Watching him in that suit, being suave and debonaire with a bunch of beautiful women hanging on his every word... any heterosexual man worth his salt wants to be be like that. Or the more recent "the man your man could smell like" commercials that went viral. No man (regardless of what his orientation may be) can deny that Isaiah Mustafa is a sexy-looking guy. Forget smelling like him, we wanna look like him. I've seen the way my sisters and other women I know look at him. I love my wife and I know she loves me, but man, I wish I could get her to look at me the way that I've seen other women look at Isaiah Mustafa. You know the look, the kind here they fan themselves afterwards. That kind of a response resounds with men. Even not-quite-so-manly men like me.
What is most telling about that statement is that you have to understand that my wife and I have to be very careful about what kind of scents we let into our home. I get headaches called "cluster headaches." Certain chemical scents can actually trigger them in me. Stuff like perfume or cigarette smoke. I may as well smash my head with a hammer as be around those kind of scents. Even some shampoo scents can trigger them. But I have never had a problem with Old Spice products. I can't speak for everyone with cluster headaches, but for me, at least, Old Spice products are a great smelling products that don't trigger my headaches, which is actually kind of rare for me to find. Well, maybe not rare, per se, but at least they aren't common, either.

Bottom Line: Old Spice commercials work. I usually go for the cheap brands, but I'm willing to spend extra money on Old Spice because, as stupid as it seems, it really does make me feel manlier. I'd go so far to say that Old Spice has what is perhaps one of the best advertising divisions in all of corporate America, and I hope they keep up the good work.