wieden + kennedy ‘getting handjobs under the papal robes’
Wieden + Kennedy developed and coordinated 186 customized video responses that contributed to a 107% increase in Old Spice Body Wash sales over the last month.
Five Questions With W+K, the Ad Agency Behind the Old Spice Ads
You've likely now seen those incredibly charming Old Spice body wash commercials (and the "custom vial video" campaign
accompanying them) that have taken over the Internet/everything! Well,
lots of people have talked to the commercial's star, Isaiah Mustafa, but
we wanted to talk to the agency behind it all — Wieden+Kennedy — last week to get some answers. They emailed us back on Monday, and since then, the Old Spice story has developed! That's really no excuse to hold out on this interview, but honestly, it
just wasn't a priority. Also, it's about an ad campaign we're not even getting paid to run.*
Anyway: Interview Time! Presenting questions answered via email by
Jason Bagley and Eric Baldwin, the two W+K Creative Directors behind the
Old Spice campaign:
1. Who's the person responsible for the initial idea? Has he or she been given some extra vacation time?
The initial Smell Like a Man, Man idea came from Craig Allen and Eric
Kallman. They established the Old Spice guy voice and came up with the
two spots, "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like" and "Questions." They
have not been given any extra vacation time as we decided to shoot 186
response videos in three days.
2. How'd you guys find [Old Spice advertising star Isaiah Mustafa]?
Through a traditional casting, supplemented by burnt offerings to the God of pec muscles.
3. What's the most outlandish reaction you guys have had to it?
Well, Isaiah and the campaign have been featured on Oprah and
Ellen, among others. And during the social media response videos, a guy
asked the Old Spice man to propose to his girlfriend for him. She said
yes. The response overall has been nuts. Apparently we're now the #1
most popular sponsored YouTube channel in history, more popular than
"Twilight." That's saying a lot.
4. What's the most challenging part of making these ads?
The most challenging part was the follow-up to the first spot.
The entire team was feeling the pressure. We didn't want to let people
down and we didn't want to repeat ourselves. It was tough to find a way
to make it as surprising as the first, but Kallman and Allen came up
with question/answer technique, which we liked because it felt
consistent with the character but also new and surprising.
5. How do they do the thing where Isaiah ends up in jeans at
the end of the "SWAN DIVE" ad? Because that is magical. Do not do the
thing where you don't tell us because it's magical. We want answers.
Isaiah puts his pants on one leg at a time, like everyone else. He is just a man. An incredibly handsome and talented man.
UGH! Ad people! Always so crafty with their crafty answers and
"creatives" and "creative concepts" or whatever they're working on to
charm us into buying things. These guys could sell their way into
getting handjobs under the papal robes. We didn't do a very good job
pressing them with this interview, especially because there's obviously
some trick to the pants thing they're not going to answer. Sorry. But:
If you do know, please tell us,
so I can write a post headlined "BLOW ME, ADVERTISING GUYS: This Is How
the Old Spice Guy Puts His Pants On." In the meantime, all of this
makes selling out and going into advertising sound very appealing, and it's not like it hasn't been done before. Just saying.
Meanwhile, in other news, this just in via PR Week:
'The brand's (Old Spice) ad agency Wieden + Kennedy developed and coordinated 186
customized video responses that contributed to a 107% increase in Old
Spice Body Wash sales over the last month, according to Nielsen data
from Mike Norton, director of external relations for male grooming at
P&G.
The brand's Twitter following also exploded 2700% to over 83,000 followers since launch"
On. A. Horse.
