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Old Spice smashes social-media records

By Amisha Nathwani, published 45 days ago in Sales & Marketing.

Old Spice almost brought down the internet last week with its two-day social media campaign, featuring the rippling former NFL player Isaiah Mustafa. Hot on Old Spice's heels, King of Shaves has launched its own red-hot viral campaign. Who will win the battle of the brands?

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Procter & Gamble, which bought Old Spice in 1990 and has been on a mission to transform its “old man” image, hired Oregon-based advertising agency Wieden + Kennedy (known for its Nike, Honda and ESPN SportsCenter commercials) to create a funky marketing campaign.

The commercial, featuring American actor and former NFL footballer Isaiah Mustafa (wearing nothing but a towel), scooped the Film grand prix at the Cannes Lions last month.

Check out the ad below:

But the marketing genius didn’t stop there.

Last week, Mustafa (aka The Old Spice Man) posted a call for questions at @OldSpice. In the space of 48 hours, he featured in more than 180 new Old Spice videos – every one in response to a Tweet. Celebrities including Demi Moore, Christina Applegate and gossip blogger Perez Hilton got in on the act.

Here are two of our favourites:

Old Spice's YouTube channel became the most popular page on the site, clocking up more than 5.2 million views. @OldSpice now has an incredible 84,000 followers on Twitter.

Consumers have played into Old Spice's viral campaign, including XXL consumer OhDoctah, who made a video supporting Old Spice rival Dove. Check it out:

Meanwhile, Will King – the entrepreneur behind the King of Shaves brand – debuted his new Shavesexy ad today, featuring blonde master barber Diane Wood, who became a star on US Network TV after shaving David Letterman’s beard live in the studio.

“The campaign is entirely social media based,” says King. “We didn't have the budget to air the debut commercial in the UK equivalent of a Superbowl ad break.”

Warning: you may need a cold shower after watching this.