Last year’s advertising sensation will soon make its 2011 debut, as Old Spice’s suave, shirtless star returns in round three of his commercials for the Procter & Gamble Co. brand.
In an indicator of the campaign’s popularity, there first is a 30-second “coming attractions”-type trailer going online Wednesday which takes you beyond former football player Isaiah Mustafa’s muscular torso — to his “striking brown eyes,” if he does say so himself.
In another effort to keep the buzz going for the YouTube hit, a yet-to-be-named “superfan” will get to debut the commercial on his or her own social network page or feed, sometime before Super Bowl Sunday.
The first of three commercials in the new promotion will start running on television Feb. 7, the day after the Super Bowl.
“We felt like we could build some excitement behind this latest launch, letting people know we’re bringing Isaiah back, and continue to reward our fans across social media,” said James Moorhead, brand manager for Old Spice, promoting a new collection of body washes, sprays and deodorants as a “scent vacation” that evokes exotic locales such as Komodo and Fiji (think “grass skirt.”).
The first commercial a year ago with Mustafa, towel-clad in a shower and urging women to “Look at your man, now back at me,” has generated tens of millions of online views and a new catch-phrase: “I’m on a horse.” The second campaign last summer included 186 related videos in which Mustafa responded personally to digital queries from users including Ellen DeGeneres and Alyssa Milano.
For ABC’s “Good Morning America,” he suggested that President Barack Obama could improve standing with female voters by wearing only a towel and beginning his State of Union speeches with “Hello, Ladies!”
Obama didn’t heed that advice Tuesday night. No matter, the “responses” campaign in its first week scored 21 million views, accounting for eight of the most popular 11 YouTube videos at the time.
The campaign and its ad agency, Portland, Ore.-based Wieden+Kennedy, won a shelf full of top advertising awards, while P&G said sales jumped by double digits for the seven-decade-old brand.
Can the new ad measure up to that success?
“Inherently, there’s pressure when something has a lot of success and then you’re trying to follow it up,” said Wieden’s Eric Kallman, who created the ad with Craig Allen.
Tom Kuntz of MJZ directed the successful, ongoing Old Spice campaign, including the original “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” spot. He is nominated for this year’s Directors Guild of America (DGA) Award in the commercials category on the strength of four entries, “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like,” “Questions,” “Did You Know?” and “Boat”–all for Old Spice. The DGA Award winners–spanning feature, TV and commercial categories–will be announced and honored at a gala awards ceremony on Saturday.
Netflix Series “The Leopard” Spots Classic Italian Novel, Remakes It As A Sumptuous Period Drama
"The Leopard," a new Netflix series, takes the classic Italian novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa and transforms it into a sumptuous period piece showing the struggles of the aristocracy in 19th-century Sicily, during tumultuous social upheavals as their way of life is crumbling around them.
Tom Shankland, who directs four of the eight episodes, had the courage to attempt his own version of what is one of the most popular films in Italian history. The 1963 movie "The Leopard," directed by Luchino Visconti, starring Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon and Claudia Cardinale, won the Palme d'Or in Cannes.
One Italian critic said that it would be the equivalent of a director in the United States taking "Gone with the Wind" and turning it into a series, but Shankland wasn't the least bit intimidated.
He said that he didn't think of anything other than his own passion for the project, which grew out of his love of the book. His father was a university professor of Italian literature in England, and as a child, he loved the book and traveling to Sicily with his family.
The book tells the story of Don Fabrizio Corbera, the Prince of Salina, a tall, handsome, wealthy aristocrat who owns palaces and land across Sicily.
His comfortable world is shaken with the invasion of Sicily in 1860 by Giuseppe Garibaldi, who was to overthrow the Bourbon king in Naples and bring about the Unification of Italy.
The prince's family leads an opulent life in their magnificent palaces with servants and peasants kowtowing to their every need. They spend their time at opulent banquets and lavish balls with their fellow aristocrats.
Shankland has made the series into a visual feast with tables heaped with food, elaborate gardens and sensuous costumes.... Read More