Whatever Happened To The Old Spice Guy?
By TheBlast Staff on April 7, 2023 at 1:30 PM EDT
If you spent time watching TV (or streaming it online) in the past ten years, then you're probably familiar with "The Old Spice Guy."
How could you not be? Even if you weren't in the market for men's body wash, you couldn't deny that the actor had a beautiful face that was hard to draw your gaze away from and a deep, resonant, baritone voice. He was speaking to ME, baby. It helped, too, that the commercials are bizarre and, as a result, memorable.
If you've wondered where this man came from, you've likely wondered where he went. It may seem like he was dropped down from the heavens, but this isn't the case. It turns out that the story of The Old Spice Guy deserves to go down in marketing history as one of the most successful campaigns of the past 50 years.
The history of the "I'm on a horse" Old Spice Man
Our story began in 2010. Procter and Gamble, aware of an upcoming opportunity to run a Super Bowl campaign, wanted to create a new ad.
They joined forces with the advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy which was already well-known at the time for its work with Nike (do the words "Just Do It" ring a bell?) Porter and Gamble wanted to create an advertisement that would target their target demographic (somewhat surprisingly, the group that most often buys men's body wash is women).
This explains why the first commercial of the Old Spice campaign starts with this (now infamous) dialogue:
"Hello, ladies. Look at your man. Now back to me…."
The actor, portrayed by Isaiah Mustafa, says that although their man will never look like him, they could smell like him if they started using Old Spice. Simple enough concept, right? Sure, the fact that the commercial ends with Mustafa announcing that he's "on a horse" comes a bit out of the left field, but the commercial's message is relatively straightforward. Buy your husband or boyfriend Old Spice; your man could be as dreamy as the man on the screen.
The commercial was famously filmed in only one take with only minimal CGI. It took the cast over three days of acting to get the perfect shot. That's a lot of monotone confident talk on Mustafa's part.
Simple as it may be, this commercial caused quite a stir. It never ended up airing on Super Bowl weekend. It instead debuted online to absolute fanfare. The segment was initially intended to advertise Old Spice's line of body washes but was eventually expanded to include more Old Spice products.
Smell Like a Man, Man: The Old Spice Guy and the bottom line
Before the commercial airing, Old Spice was already one of the top companies in the United States for men's self-care products. However, experts at Procter and Gamble were worried that Old Spice mainly appealed to an older audience. This disinterest among the younger demographic made Procter and Gamble officials nervous that their brand would cease to grow its popularity and need to be sold off.
The new Old Spice commercials' humorous and somewhat random theme was meant to engage a younger audience. And it worked! Within months, the commercial had been viewed 11 million times and even won awards at the renowned Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival. Old Spice ended up airing several other commercials starring Mustafa. As of this writing, the YouTube video above has 61 million views.
Where is Old Spice Man Isaiah Mustafa now?
She was probably riding a horse somewhere. We kid.
As mentioned earlier, Mustafa played for the NFL before becoming the Old Spice Man. Growing up between Oregon and California, Mustafa didn't play football in high school, though he briefly played for his college team.
After his football career ended, Mustafa started acting, appearing on Days of Our Lives, Ugly Betty, and the sitcom version of Charlie's Angels. But no part brought him as much notoriety as Old Spice.
These days, Mustafa is married and has one daughter. He enjoys a quiet life but has appeared in several films and TV shows since his Old Spice days. These include Shadowhunters, Grey's Anatomy, Black-ish, and perhaps most notably, a starring role in the sequel to Stephen King's It, Chapter Two.
Interestingly, Mustafa was able to pursue a role in acting thanks to a large sum of money that he won as a contestant on a 2003 episode of the game show series The Weakest Link. The winning question was about the first name of Doctor Doom's first name. Mustafa, an avid comic book fan, knew the answer and walked away with $47,000.
As our favorite Old Spice Man, it's safe to say that his initial investment more than paid off.
Maria Pendolino is an award-winning voice actor and commercial voiceover artist. You've probably heard her voice interrupting your playlists, primetime TV spots, documentaries, and sports promos. She's a weirdo who never fast-forwards through commercials. You can follow her on Instagram if you like cats, cheese boards, and deprecating humor.
