Monday, March 1, 2010

He Who Controls the Spice

Old Spice.

Years ago, this was known as an "old man's cologne." The kind of aftershave that people said smelled like their dad. One of my first memories of this fragrance was when I was probably about 6 or 7 years old. I was running away from my brother and I hid behind the couch in our living room. My flawless hiding spot was soon found, however, and my brother had me trapped. I don't remember what I had done to deserve this punishment, exactly, but he took a bottle of Old Spice, and poured it onto my head. I clearly remember looking up and seeing the medium-sized white glass bottle tipping slowly in his hand and the clear liquid beginning to pour out - right into my eyes. And while the searing pain in my eyes was excruciating, I do actually remember thinking how much Old Spice smelled like my dad.

Since that incident back in the day (but probably not because of it), Old Spice had kind of fallen into obscurity. Yes, it was still a staple scent in cologne, aftershave and deodorant, but people didn't talk about it that much. I remember seeing a few Old Spice commercials a while back starring Bruce Campbell, but it wasn't until just recently when Isaiah Mustafa made every woman's dream come true (on a horse!) during the Super Bowl that Old Spice's fan base exploded.

Now, I'm not here to show you this commercial (in fact, if you have no idea what I'm talking about, click here), I'm here to show you how this commercial was made. Maybe it's because I'm a writer, maybe it's because I'd like to get into advertising and/or film making, or maybe it's because I've always had a fascination with "Behind the Scenes" videos (I was watching The Making of Thriller at age 4), but I found the clip below absolutely fascinating.

Now, yes, this is a long video, and that fact will send most of you running for the hills, but it's also a very entertaining video about how this Old Spice commercial was made - I recommend it. And, as you know, you can always trust my recommendations.



For those of you who don't want to watch a 20 minute video (or can't watch it at this time because you're at work and the boss is RIGHT BEHIND YOU!!), here's a quick little fun link for you, too. Click on the link below and then zoom in on the map by clicking on the red balloon a couple of times.

Sharks from Space

It's pretty cool what Google Earth can find.

I'm on a horse.

5 comments:

--jeff * said...

well, you've managed to suck 20 minutes out of my morning. i didn't think the commercial had any cg, but it was still nice to hear how they did it.
(you were watching the "making of thriller" at age 4?? even the viewmaster slides of that scared me when i was five....)

i've been using old spice for a little over ten years. i don't remember when i started (forgot to write "dear diary, today i bought some old spice deodorant. sure hope things work out between us! xoxo"), but i do remember the sister missionary in our mtc group informing me that it was for old men.

not that it's stopped me, and now i am vindicated!

The Former 786 said...

Jeff, I figured that out of all my readers, you would be the one to watch this You Tube video in full (and I can see that you were, in fact, on my blog for over 20 minutes, verifying your story) - thanks for not letting me down.

And I watched the Making of Thriller that young because I was watching Thriller that young - it affirmed that it wasn't real to my kid mind. We need to get you to watch scary movies more, Jeff. They're quite enjoyable.

And way to be ahead of the curve on scents, Jeff! You smell like the man every lady wishes her man smelled like!

--jeff * said...

"You smell like the man every lady wishes her man smelled like!"

the problem, all of those ladies still keep their man, irregardless of how he smells. and i'm smelling good, all by myself....

instead me watching more scary movies, how about i get you to watch more art films? : )

The Former 786 said...

How about both?

Andrea said...

I cannot believe that this whole thing was one take! Knowing that makes this commercial 110x awesomer to me! And look what we all could be doing with our outstanding copywriting abilities...