Old Spice Commercial Analysis

Words: 625
Pages: 3

Most of us have likely seen the Old Spice commercials featuring Isaiah Mustafa, AKA “The Old Spice Man.” The specific commercial I’ll be referencing starts off with confident Mustafa wearing nothing but a towel in a bathroom as he describes how “anything is possible” when a man wears old spice products. Mustafa shifts from bathroom, to a sailboat, to a beach and ends the commercial on a horse. All this in one continuous monologue without breaking eye-contact with the camera. In spite of the fact that this ad does little to describe the Old Spice product, its use of ethos, logos, and pathos persuaded many people to switch over to Old Spice. In the commercial, Mustafa uses ethos to establish the credibility of the product and to persuade the audience to buy Old Spice. The target audience for this commercial is men. The commercial uses a spokesperson, Isaiah Mustafa, who is a former NFL player and embodies many features that most would consider “manly.” The intention of the commercial is to persuade us to believe that in order to achieve that …show more content…
The commercial appeals to our reason and logic through repressed messages in the dialogue that rely on what is conveyed as fitting and desirable roles for men and women. The commercial is persuading the audience (men) to buy their body wash because any other brand will make them smell like a lady, and therefore, unmanly. The logic here is if men are using a body wash that isn’t Old Spice, they are breaking the rule that men should be manly. The commercial offers the solution, if you buy Old Spice body wash then you will be manly. The commercial also uses logic, logos, by making apparent that the scent of Old Spice is not only manly, but also pleasing to women. Women will find you more attractive if you smell like Old Spice. Therefore, by buying and using Old Spice body wash you will become more pleasing to