Old Spice heroically saves the day with swagger

If you watched any sports or Marvel movies this weekend, chances are you got to see the very funny Old Spice ads.

‘Never Let a Friend Lose His Swagger’ by Wieden+Kennedy Portland, shines a hilarious light on lonely guys, making the series Reel Ad of the Week.

Apparently, Old Spice commissioned a study uncovering how guys who once traveled as part of a “wolf pack” are now facing a “lone(ly) wolf” epidemic, where their important guy friendships are taking a backseat to “Guy Traps.”

Consider these facts:

• 92% of guys feel it’s important to maintain their guy friendships, yet 79% of guys spend less guy time as they get older.

• 47% of those who spend less time with friends say they miss talking to people who have experienced the same issues they have, and 44% say they miss spending time with someone who really knows them.

• 31% of men said they’ve spent more time working late, and 28% say they’ve spent more time binging TV shows—but only 13% say they’ve spent more time with friends. And, as mentioned above, almost exactly half (49%) of men say working late and chilling alone are the usual reasons they’re not going out with friends.

The new campaign uses these truths to demonstrate the great lengths guys will go to make sure that guys don’t lose their swagger just because they become dads or start binge watching shows.

The spots, directed by Biscuit’s Steve Rogers (great heroic name for heroic spots) are done with Old Spice’s usual quirky humor.

‘Next Episode’ is an epic buddy action short. Here, Sarunas Jackson (Insecure, Games People Play) finds his buddy lounging at home getting ready to binge watch for the night. Jackson picks him up with some Swagger deodorant and carries him through the battlefield that is his apartment.

Appliances burst into flames and shoot food shrapnel at them before he jumps through a window, then rushes to a van where his friends await a night out.

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In ‘Working Late,’ Alberto Rosende (Shadowhunters) finds his friend working on a Friday night. With a cry of “This isn’t you,” he shoves the friend in the chair out the office window on to a zipline, which carries him to a rooftop patio where he starts playing the piano.

In ‘New Dad’ a friend hovers above his sleeping friend from a hole in the window and tells him that 8pm is too early to be in bed, even for a new dad. He rescues the friend while the resting wife mumbles something about bringing back potato skins.

The spots are shamelessly “Bro” and that’s okay. Guys need their bro time and we do get less and less of it, or put down for it, as we get older and gain more responsibilities. And it’s that insight that makes this RAW.

 
Credits
Client: Old Spice
   Vice President, Personal Care, North America: Freddy Bharucha
   Associate Brand Director: Matt Krehbiel
   Brand Manager: Gwynedd Davis
   Assistant Brand Manager: Omar Goff