Old Spice Commercial- I Am On a Horse

           “I could be the man your man can smell like.” These are the words of the quirky, laudable Old Spice commercial that lifted the company’s image and revenue dramatically. The commercial is an intricate web of scenes and digital special affects, creating a lovable commercial of a single actor who stays in place while seemingly walks through and interacts in many different settings. The one aspect of the video that is continuous throughout the advertisement is that Isaiah Mustafa stares at the viewer in a hypnotic, non-creepy way.

           “Smell like a man, man” is the logo of the deodorant company and so Mustafa exalts in his manliness by comparing himself to the audience’s man. “Look at your man, now back to me, now back to your man, now back to me.” While this conversation is occurring in a shower room, Mustafa turns his head slightly, back and forth as if acknowledging the directions he is amiably issuing to the audience. And yet he still keeps his eyes fixed on the audience and their eyes fixed on him. Then he walks two spaces to his left and suddenly, Mustafa is on a boat, in a shirtless sailing outfit, in the middle of the sea. Replacing the Old Spice bottle he was grasping, he now holds an oyster full of tickets “to that thing that you love,” next cascading diamonds, and then back to Old Spice bottle. All of the quick changes of product and setting keeps the audience making the unconscious connection between the items, suggesting the rise of value of Old Spice, and also causing the feeling that they will miss something if they dare look away. This makes the audience desperate to catch every second of the commercial. All the while, Mustafa’s eyes never left the audience, retaining their focus, and in the end he smirks, as if now aware of all of the focus on him, and remarks casually that he is on a horse.