Preview

Rhetorical Essay: Old Spice

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1070 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Rhetorical Essay: Old Spice
Ashley John
Heather Dorn
Writing 111
February 20, 2011 Old Spice: The Man You Could Smell Like “ Look at your man, now back to me” is said at the opening of the commercial, as it sets a comical tone for the advertisement and draws the viewers’ interest. The relatively new company, Old Spice, founded in 1990 uses their new commercial series to promote their American brand of male grooming products. Old Spice in the past has focused on targeting middle aged to elderly men in their advertisement campaigns. This new series of advertisements is trying to reach to a new target audience of twenty to forty year old males. This advertisement is attempting to create a memorable impression to the viewer through appealing to pathos, logos and ethos. It attempts to gain customers through the characterization of the attractive male presented in the advertisement. The Old Spice commercials have gained an inside on the market by presenting their commercials’ around the image of perfection. Through the use of Old Spice, a man may feel as if anything is attainable. The idea of obtaining Old Spice is also shown as being easy and men may be immediately attracted to the benefits such as taking ladies out and feeling refreshed. This commercial relays its’ message through the incorporation of humor, rather then stating in a matter of fact method. It cleverly points out several benefits of using the product by the characterization of the good-looking male and ideal settings in the background. The main goal of the commercial comes to be that using Old Spice allows men to obtain what is presented as the unattainable such as “tickets to that thing you love” and diamonds for women. The commercial targets men in the age group between twenty and thirty. It does not specifically target a rich clientele, but makes Old Spice seen as a product that is available for all males. Through the use of the male, the commercial expects the viewers to trust the man’s judgment through



Cited: 1. "YouTube - Old Spice | The Man Your Man Could Smell Like." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. Web. 23 Feb. 2011. .

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In the magazine Game Informer an advertisement for Old Spice caught my eye. The reason for this was because it was large scale, in your face, and took up two pages. The way that this ad established and reinforced the brand name was very clever. The ad used very neutral, warm welcoming colors such as dark orange, and blue with bold white text. This seems to be a typical old spice ad in my eyes. I say this because the way old spice portrays its self is humorous but at the same time, without a doubt seriously manly. This is an obvious point, because in the add the man is covered in the old spice foaming body wash while riding a giant crow away from the sunset while being struck by lighting. This makes a very bold point that it is the manly of manliest body washes. This is apparent because not any average man could tackle riding a giant crow as well as a substantial lightning strike all while covered in a foamy blanket of body wash.…

    • 780 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Old Spice Ad Analysis

    • 1102 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Old Spice television advertising campaign was created in the United States by ad agency Wieden and Kennedy (History of Old Spice). In this Effie Award winning advertising campaign, the advertiser’s specific…

    • 1102 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The argument of this TV commercial is that the overall quality of life for men will improve if they use Old Spice deodorant. The audience includes women that are in a relationship with a man and is concerned about the way their significant other smells. The goal of this advertisement is to get women to buy Old Spice deodorant for their significant other. The commercial tries to accomplish its goal of getting women to buy Old Spice deodorant for men in several elements of rhetoric.…

    • 460 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Gender critics examine “how sexual identity influences the creation and reception of literary works” ("Types of Literary Criticism." 1). This school includes gay-and-lesbian study critics ("Schools of Literary Criticism." A-42). From the gender critic point-of-view, the commercial portrays how a man can be more attractive to a woman by using the old spice body wash. It starts out with a fit man standing in just a towel in a bathroom saying “Hello Ladies” and “if he switched to Old Spice he could smell like he’s me” ("Old Spice | The Man Your Man Could Smell Like." 1). The product is promoted just for men (even though women can use it…

    • 1228 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Old Spice affectively uses the rhetorical appeals to target and sell their product to pre-teen and young adult males. Old Spice is a known brand of Proctor and Gamble for male deodorant sprays and grooming products. Proctor and Gamble Company uploaded the commercial on YouTube and its Facebook page gaining millions of views. YouTube and Facebook are known to be the top sites and commonly used by teens and young adults. This marketing strategy by Old Spice was genius, gaining tons of hits and allowing to be shared across social media outlets.…

    • 872 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Have you ever heard the statement, a man that smells good is automatically attractive"? It's the first thing that I think of when I think of the Old Spice commercials. My favorite one is the one titled “Old Spice Mom Song”. This Old Spice commercial has caught the attention of over a million people across the world on both television and YouTube. This ad on YouTube was published on January 3, 2014, shows how mothers are upset and torn when their sons start using Old Spice products. When the boys start using Old Spice, it symbolizes becoming a man.…

    • 622 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The commercial grabs the reader’s attention and maintains it on the Old Spice man. It starts out with a former NFL player and an actor Isaiah Mustafa in an ordinary bathroom wearing nothing but a towel. He represents the “perfect male” for both women and as well as men. He is considered manly with the muscular physique, broad shoulders, bearded face and a stern voice. His strong posture and his deep male voice displays the masculine form, the women desire. Without losing eye contact with the audience, Mustafa shifts from a bathroom scene to a yacht, to a beach and lastly to a horseback-riding which portrays that “anything is possible…” with an Old Spice. Throughout his transformations he accomplishes impractical feats like obtaining tickets…

    • 1083 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Rhetorical Essay

    • 631 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In 2006, Listerine introduced to the world a product that would help children start a life of good oral hygiene. This product is called Listerine Agent cool Blue a pre- brush tint rinse. A way to help make brushing your teeth in the morning fun, instead a time consuming chore most kids choose to skip. You rinse your mouth for 30 seconds and spit. The blue residue indicates plaque, leftover food, and shows children where they need to brush the most. The importance of brushing your teeth is something we all have been taught at a young age. With this product not only is Listerine Agent Cool Blue successful in getting consumers to purchase this product, but successful in solving the problem of making children actually want to brush their teeth in the mornings. A problem a lot of parents struggle with today.…

    • 631 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Rhetorical Essay

    • 899 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The goal of argumentative writing is to persuade the audience that their ideas are valid or more valid then other authors. Greek philosopher and writer, Aristotle, divided persuasion into three sections: Ethos, Pathos, and Logos. These persuasion guidelines give readers a sense of credibility, emotion, and reasoning.…

    • 899 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    rhetorical essay

    • 712 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The 1918 influenza epidemic inspired author John M. Barry to write about the importance of uncertainty in science and research. In his piece, The Great Influenza, Barry endeavors to reveal to both researchers and men of modern science that science is not a domain in which one can rely on the comfort and strength of certainty. Rather, it is a domain that is reserved for the courageous and one in which the “weakness” of uncertainty must be embraced. To stress this point, John M. Barry rationally employs rhetorical strategies, and effectively convinces his scientifically-minded readers, that one must “move forcefully and aggressively even while uncertain” to be a successful scientist.…

    • 712 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Old Spice is the quintessential men’s grooming brand. With more than 70 years as an American icon, Old Spice is the authority on the male grooming experience and has leveraged this heritage to become the No.1 selling anti-per spirant/deodorant stick and body wash brand with guys of all ages. Old Spice brings authenticity, performance and confidence to male grooming and offers a wide product portfolio for today’s man, including anti-per spirants, deodorants, body washes, body sprays, after…

    • 3860 Words
    • 16 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    This commercial captivates the audience through a series of “custom-made videos.” By making the commercial funny is the strategy many advertising company used to connect to its audience. This marketing has been proven and tested from the part that resulted an effectiveness to attract customers. In this era, where technology part of everyone’s like. With the help of YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites, where customers can pretty much see a commercial with humor often becomes a viral sensation. In the commercial of “Old Spice” where it uses an influence person being funny is the perfect ingredients to become sensation. Furthermore, the Old Spice differ from any other commercial is the mini-series funny commercial campaigns.…

    • 185 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Along with the message to keep your manly appeal this commercial also depicts a second message. The second message targets the audience’s fear of aging and personality changes. Society today is terrified of the idea of aging with an inability to compete with the younger generations. Society is most interested in the young and the beautiful, and this doesn’t only target women, it targets men also like in this commercial. Going hand-in-hand with the fears of aging is the fear of changing in a negative manner. Society wants to be young forever; the elderly are paid no…

    • 937 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    It’s been so many years since Old Spice has launched the campaign but the social media hangover around this commercial seems to be still working wonders for Old Spice. It became a cultural mark, male and female are target audience and we need to flow in the same stream. The strong bond of relationship and trust between Old Spice and customer to be followed in the next campaign.…

    • 68 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The main element is sex appeal, especially since they use a well groomed, attractive man and the commercial targets the female audience. Another would be need for affiliation. Saying that one will smell more masculine using Old Spice and “smell like a lady” (0:27) using the competitor’s brand. It also has a sense of need for attention in the same way as need for affiliation. It signifies that using Old Spice body wash will get men noticed by women.…

    • 895 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays