Rhetorical Analysis of Old Spice Ad The Man Your Man Could Smell Like

Advertisement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owGykVbfgUE
Anything is possible when your man smells like Old Spice and not a lady.
When a company creates an advertisement, they utilize a myriad of different strategies
and techniques in order to lure the audience into purchasing their product. Old Spice, a
company specialized in producing mens hygienic products, is extremely notorious for its
series of humorous advertising campaigns, based off of references to traditional
masculine ideals. The most notable Old Spice commercial, The Man Your Man Could
Smell Like, incorporates the power of gender stereotypes, humor, and the subtle use of
rhetorical devices, such as ethos and pathos, in order to connect with the audience and
convince them to switch to Old Spice and buy their Red Zone body wash. Although the
Old Spice commercials are not very logical or supported with statistical facts, they play
into the audiences emotions through humor and sex appeal, which proves to be highly
effective.
The first Old Spice commercial, The Man Your Man Could Smell Like, which
aired during the 2010 Superbowl, features and fixates on the Old Spice Man, a former
NFL player and actor Isaiah Mustafa, who quintessentially represents the perfect male
in modern society. Isaiah is physically attractive and showcases the definition of
traditional masculinity, with features such as defined abs and muscles, broad shoulders,
and a rugged, bearded face. By using an illustrious actor like Mustafa, who embodies
several manly characteristics, such as a muscular physique and deep voice, the ad builds
his ethos as a Real Man and sets up its credibility to the audience. Furthermore, he
does not break eye contact once with the camera throughout the entire 30-second ad and

commences his monologue with commanding imperatives, directing ladies where to look,
Look at your man, now back to me, back to your man, now back to me. His beguiling
tone, strong posture, and suave demeanor mimic an alpha male attitude when speaking
to women, again establishing his credibility as a desirable man. By using a male role
model such as Isaiah and developing ethos, the advertisement causes men to sincerely
believe that Old Spice makes them manlier, which consequently motivates them purchase
the product. If Mustafa was replaced with an average looking man who was not famous,
the commercial would not be as believable, men would not associate Old Spice and
manliness together, ethos would not be built with the audience, and therefore, viewers
would not be as compelled to buy the product.
In the Old Spice ad, the concepts of logos and logical reasoning play a pivotal role
in selling the Red Zone body wash. At first glance, the commercial is not entirely logical,
with absurd events such as an oyster holding two tickets to a concert, and the oyster
turning into a handful of diamonds. Although such events are merely humorous and
nonsensical, the ad does utilize the logic of the popular advertising strategy, sex sells.
For many years, Old Spice products and commercials were geared towards elder men and
women; however, by sexualizing the product and the ads, the company was essentially
rebranded and made more appealing to the modern generation. Mustafas constant lack
of shirt throughout the ad, The advertisement makes apparent that the manly scent of Old
Spice attracts women, and uses the reasoning that men need Old Spice in order to be
manlier and gain sexual satisfaction. Of course, it is not statistically proven that Old
Spice will gain sexual satisfaction; however, in a society that dictates that men need sex,
men are more willing to buy any product that have the possibility of attracting women.

A huge reason for this commercials success was due to its humor and ability to
make people laugh. The ad transmits gender stereotypes in a sarcastic and comedic
fashion, and humor is used to mock some of the ridiculous masculine ideals in the ad
itself, all of which help to capture the audiences attention. In the advertisement, an oyster
randomly appears in the hands of Mustafa holding tickets instead of pearls, and then the
tickets magically turn into a fountain of diamonds, from which the Old Spice Body Wash
arises. Additionally, the surprise ending, Im on a Horse adds to the overall humor and
ridiculousness of the ad, with Mustafa justifying his actions with the simple line,
Anything is possible, when your man smells like Old Spice, in a humorous undertone.
These series of unrealistic and illogical events show how unachievable the portrayed man
really is, and mocks the extremely materialistic and stereotypical perspective of what a
woman considers a perfect man (owning a yacht, buying her tickets to whatever she
wants, and showering her with diamonds). Concisely, the commercial uses humor to
lightly poke fun at its own unrealistic standards of being a man (e.g. turning oysters
into diamonds), which produces genuine laughter from the viewers, especially men, and
convinces many to buy the product.
When looking at the target audience of the Old Spice commercial, it appeals to
both women and men by firmly connecting to their emotional needs, thus persuading
them to buy the product. Throughout the commercial, Mustafa directly addresses his
female viewers, which engages them immediately. The ad begins with a shirtless Mustafa
coming out of a shower only in a towel, directly speaking to the ladies and asking them
to compare their man to him. The commercial reaches out to the emotional needs of
women, by giving them an ideal image of what a real man should be like and how he

should smell. For example, the ad makes women want a manly man like Mustafa who
will buy them two tickets to that thing they love, give her diamonds, or ride up on a
white stallion as her knight in shining armor. All of these events allude to gender
stereotypes that are associated with a womans satisfaction: charm, sex appeal, and
desire. Therefore, women are more likely to purchase the Old Spice Body Wash for their
significant other, in hopes that it will make them manlier and more similar to a man like
Mustafa. Not only does this commercial reach out to women, but they undoubtedly
appeal to pathos and mens emotions as well. The Old Spice ad targets men by
representing an ideal image of what an ultimate man should be like through using a
physically attractive and fit man in the commercial. In a society full of gender stereotypes
and preset notions of masculinity, men instinctively want to look, smell, and be exactly
like Mustafa, a man who embodies the essential masculine ideals (manly scent, sex
appeal, muscular body). The commercial goes after men emotionally by implying that
they are not currently the man their lady is expecting them to be, but by using Old Spice,
they will be more desirable to women. These ads directly invoke their emotions and
desire to fit masculine ideals, thus luring them into buying a product which will
subjectively make them manlier.
The Man Your Man Could Smell Like advertisement was such a success that it
received more YouTube views than Obamas 2008 election speech video within the first
24 hours of posting it. Why was it so successful? Whether or not Old Spice body wash
can actually do all the things it claims to do, the commercials perfect balance of humor,
rhetorical tactics, and gender stereotypes effectively persuades viewers to buy the product
and continue fulfilling masculine standards. The sexual content in the advertisements are

not overdone and for the most part, the humor in the ad is considered endearing, as
opposed to offensive. Of course, the issue of humor is subjective and raises the critical
questions, Is the Old Spice Man really sexist or is he simply mocking sexism? Is the
commercial poking fun at gender roles for laughs or just subtly reinforcing them? These
questions continue to be discussed and debated today, and the answer is still unknown
and truly up to the viewer to decide.

Works Cited
Old Spice Body Wash. Advertisement. YouTube. Old Spice, 4 Feb. 2010. Web. 8 Oct.
2014. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owGykVbfgUE&gt;.
Romano, Tricia. "The Old Spice Man's Internet Triumph." The Daily Beast.
Newsweek/Daily Beast, 18 July 2010. Web. 09 Oct. 2014.
<http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2010/07/18/old-spice-guy-post-racialcommercial-genius.html>.