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Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owGykVbfgUE&feature=youtu.be
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Sean Chiu
John Green
1020E MIT
December 03, 2019

The Magic behind Old Spice

Old Spice is an American brand of grooming products who are notorious for their

humorous advertisements. In the past, the brand has been known to target an older audience of

around 40-60 years old. Due to the statistical market, Old Spice began to change their marketing

strategies. Nowadays, Old Spice has shifted their market towards an audience of younger male

adults to purchase their products through sex symbols, materialism, and self-shaming, which

represent Barthes’ and Saussure’s studies, in television advertisements because they touch upon

personal values typically important to the young age such as masculinity, confidence, and

wealth.

The main actor, Isaiah Mustafa, has a very muscular body, which is the first sign the

audience sees in the commercial. This sign is an example of Barthes’ studies, as he studied

signifiers as objects, not just words and images. In The Photographic Message by Roland

Barthes, he states, “This message is formed by a source of emission, a channel of transmission

and a point of reception” (Barthes, 194) as well as, “Every sign supposes a code.” (Barthes, 194).

The source of emission in this case is Old Spice as they are the ones who recorded Mustafa’s

body, the channel of transmission is the television advertisement and finally the receptors are the

young, male adults watching the advertisement. Barthes states that ever sign creates a code and,

in this case, Mustafa’s body creates a code which is decoded by the receptors. His body signifies

masculinity, attraction and confidence, which can be obtained by using products by Old Spice.
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This message persuades the audience of young adults to purchase products by Old Spice so they

can look and feel like Mustafa.

Along with Mustafa’s body, he also speaks with a low tone of voice which also

represents masculinity. I believe that low voices are directly correlated to fine men and men who

should be taken seriously. Old Spice uses Mustafa’s voice as an attraction for the audience as

well as for humour. Since his voice is low, the audience believes that this advertisement could be

serious, but it is not. It is a humorous advertisement, and this keeps the audience’s attention,

ultimately selling their product.

Stepping away from Barthes, Old spice also utilizes Saussure’s studies in their

advertisements. Mustafa opens with, “Hello Ladies, look at your man, now back at me… sadly,

he isn’t me. But if he stopped using lady scented body wash and switched to Old Spice, he could

smell like he’s me.” (0:00 – 0:11). Saussure was known for his studies of linguistics and he

states, “the production of meaning depends on language: 'Language is a system of signs.’” (Hall,

18) and “There was, he argued, the form (the actual word, image, photo, etc.), and there was the

idea or concept in your head with which the form was associated.” (Hall, 18). When Mustafa

said, “look at your man, now back at me… sadly, he isn’t me.” (0:00 – 0:06), the form which the

audience pictured were themselves and Mustafa. The message being portrayed across was that

the audience themselves were not as good as Mustafa and that they are not him. A negative

connotation was perceived of themselves. This is effective because in the advertisement, Old

Spice treated their products as a gateway in order to be like Mustafa. The audience pictures the

masculine features of Mustafa and this drives them to purchase their products.

Another thing that Mustafa says is, “It’s an oyster with two tickets to that thing you love.

Look again. The tickets are now diamonds. Anything is possible when your man smells like Old
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Spice and not a lady.” (0:20 – 0:27). Old spice uses materialistic things like tickets and diamonds

here to send a message. When Mustafa says and shows us these things, we picture tickets to our

favourite, or a loved one’s favourite, game or concert as well as diamonds and jewellery. In the

real world, diamonds and jewellery code for wealthiness, which is a something that all people,

not just young adults, strive for. Old Spice including this sign of wealthiness in their

advertisement portrays that when a person smells like Old Spice, they can get whatever they

want just like how Mustafa seems to be treated.

Finally, the last sign that Old Spice uses in this advertisement is their slogan at the end.

Their slogan states, “Smell like a man, man” (0:29). This is another example of Saussure’s

studies of linguistics. In this slogan, “man” is the signifier. When the audience reads that word,

an actual man is brought to their attention, a man like Mustafa since he is the one giving the

message. The context behind the word “man” is considered the signified. A man is something

that young male adults want to be in the future. In the world, at least in north American culture,

the word “man” typically triggers meaning of masculinity, attraction, confidence, wealth, etc.

The message Old Spice is sending to their audience with this commercial is that nobody is a man

until they start using Old Spice products and start smelling like a “man”.

Altogether, Old Spice uses sex symbols, self-realization, and materialistic objects in their

television commercials which targets younger adults, typically male, to purchase their products

because they connote personal values such as masculinity, confidence, and wealthiness. Many

signs from Saussure’s and Barthes’ studies have been depicted in this commercial, each one

targeting views of younger adults, In the age range of 18-36. The sex symbols in the

advertisement creates a model in which viewers want to become and their product acts as a way

to achieve this. Self-realization is used in this by Mustafa speaking to the audience and seeming
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higher than them. Mustafa then proceeds to say that if the audience would like to be someone

like him, us Old Spice products. Finally, materialistic objects are shown to be given to those who

use Old Spice, persuading the audience to purchase the products. Overall, all the signs in this Old

Spice commercial signify positive attraction towards their products and are directed towards

young adults.

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Work Cited

“Old SpiceThe Man Your Man Could Smell Like.” YouTube, uploaded by Old Spice, 4
February 2010, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owGykVbfgUE&feature=youtu.be