Isaiah Mustafa is back. He’s be-toweled, in an innocuous bathroom setting and talking about Old Spice with that special kind of diction reminiscent of a SFW Brad Neely cartoon inspired by marketing for OK Soda.
It’s been seven months and millions of views since hotshot advertising agency Wieden and Kennedy positioned Mustafa in the pantheon of Internet Awesome by way of an interactive, personalized, and prolific online video and social media campaign
. Mustafa’s stint as the Old Spice Guy immediately invigorated his entertainment career, kindling a relationship with Tyler Perry and landing him at least two film roles.In his latest video released this week, Mustafa promises, “new advertisements to inform the people on this crazy blue marble that we call earth how they or their men can use Old Spice to smell as fresh as the freshest place on Earth,” which part of me thinks is great, and the other part of me doesn’t think is great.
Short of Wieden and Kennedy concocting something equally creative and innovative to Old Spice Guy’s YouTube campaign, I don’t see how the new adverts will live up to expectations.
Plus, is it just the lighting, or does Mustafa look like he misplaced his gym membership? Here’s a slightly annoying animated gif I made that puts the Old Spice Guy of July 2010 and the Old Spice Guy of January 2011 side by side:
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