Rhetorical Analysis Of Old Spice Commercials

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"Hello ladies. Look at your man, now back to me...sadly he is not me..." begins the most notable Old Spice commercial, "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like." When a company develops an advertisement, they use many different strategies and techniques in order to convince the audience to buy their product. Old Spice specifically, is known for their humorous, yet ridiculous advertisements based off of stereotypical male ideals. Though these commercials are not extremely logical, they tap into the audiences emotions through humor and sex appeal.
"The Man Your Man Could Smell Like," aired during the 2010 Superbowl and featured former NFL player and actor, Isaiah Mustafa, who represents the "perfect man" in today 's society. Mustafa is physically attractive and maintains the idea of classic masculinity, with features such as defined abdominals and other
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Humor in advertisements seem to grasp the viewer 's attention almost immediately. The ad conveys gender stereotypes in a sarcastic and comedic fashion, and the humor in a way mocks some of society 's ridiculous masculine ideals. In this advertisement, an oyster magically appears in the hands of Mustafa, holding tickets instead of pearls. Then, the tickets and oyster turn into a fountain of diamonds from which the Old Spice body wash rises. Additionally, the ending, "I 'm on a horse," adds to the commercials overall humor and ridiculousness, with Mustafa justifying his actions with the simple line, "Anything is possible, when your man smells like Old Spice." This series of unrealistic and illogical events show how unachievable the man portrayed in the ad actually is and mocks the extremely materialistic perspective of what a woman wants from her man. The commercial also uses humor to make fun of its own unrealistic standards of being a "man" and produces laughter to the viewers and convinces many men to buy the

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