Playing on some of advertising’s most cliched tropes, Old Spice pokes fun at the marketing gimmicks that appeal most to teenage boys and their more conservative mothers.
In its first spot called ‘Beach Budz’, it shows two mums walking quietly along a scenic beach when “advertising”, in the form of a boat riding octopus and a paragliding bear, enters the frame and disturbs the peace.
“Pathetic,” comments one mother with dripping disdain. “The things brands do to advertise to boys.”
The mothers then go on to show how they think advertising should be done—with a soft-spoken sales pitch, a genteel soundtrack and plenty of twirling in slow motion.
In a second spot called ‘Alpha Dawg’, it follows a similar premise with two mums engaging in a leisurely walk in the woods. Suddenly, they come across what appears to be a dead dog. Instead, it turns out to be yet another hyperbolic Old Spice commercial.
While the difference in preferences may seen irreconcilable, both spots end with the tagline that when it comes to Old Spice, “Moms and sons agree it practically smells itself”, whatever the hells that means.
