Old Spice has a new line of products which are all inspired by nature. Their new smells – Timber, Amber and Citron – are featured in some new Old Spice ads which continue the company’s descent into the bizarre.
A while back, we praised Old Spice for breaking the mold and trying new ideas. Their commercials were brilliantly creative and even incredibly executed, but since then the company has fallen victim to their own success. Old Spice saw their winning advertising formula and tried to take it to the extreme, constantly trying to raise the bar in terms of nonsense and outrageous situations.
Here are the cringe-worthy results:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iEsuxmqbRY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1V0pMvBTgFg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZGvq2psQuI
Just … what? At least the Old Spice “Man Your Man Could Smell Like” ads were creative and had a point. They were outrageous, but the message at least made sense. Unlike the ads above, the “Man Your Man Could Smell Like” spots weren’t weird just to be weird.
We’re all for trying new ideas. Old Spice did that five years ago (yes, it really has been that long). Since then, their constant attempt to scream “Hey, we’re unique and check out how crazy this ad is!” is suddenly quite expected. At this point, we’d be more surprised to see a subtle, subdued Old Spice ad and that’s exactly the problem. When your campaign becomes predictable and boring, it’s no longer effective.
