Old Spice continues its tongue-in-cheek approach to men’s grooming marketing with a campaign revolving around NFL rookie Montez Sweat called ‘Official Sweat Defense of the NFL’.
This comic campaign, developed in harness with creative agency Wieden + Kennedy Portland, sought to generate irrational controversy surrounding sweat in the NFL by starting a beef with the player in order to promote its anti-sweat deodorants products.
The idea is that the brand is so committed to to its pledge to stand against all forms of sweat – even the NFL’s new number 26 pick in April’s NFL Draft.
The activation takes the form of political-style marketing: led by a series of faux ‘attack style’ ads against sweat in general and a campaign against the Washington Redskins rookie linebacker Montez Sweat in particular.
The initiative spans strategically placed billboards near the Redskins’ home stadium, plus full-page print ads in the 14 Otober issue of Washington Post, online and social content and a series of linked short films with the first three airing on US television.
The commercials kick off with Fox presenter Charissa Thompson announcing Sweat’s arrival in the league after which the narrative arc becomes a satirical PSA in which Sweat is called out for being “too sweaty for the NFL.”
As the creative rolled out, additional ambassadors such as from NFL stars Von Miller and Travis Kelce, plus a list of actors, entertainers and comedians pushed back against the brand.
These included R&B legend Keith Sweat who also criticised the brand for its campaign against Sweat.
The musician released a heartfelt musical defence of Montez Sweat based on his chart-topping 1996 hit ‘Nobody’ and a simple statement saying: “Really? Has everybody gone insane?”
The comic (set-up) critical response led Old Spice to reconsider its campaign.
Old Spice Associate Brand Director Matt Krehbiel said the company took an unexpected approach with the multifaceted campaign: “We truly believe in building ideas around deep insights and aren’t afraid of taking risks to deliver on the smartly ridiculous humour fans expect from Old Spice.”
Krehbiel explained that the brand first began thinking about how it might be able to work with Sweat during his college football career at Mississippi State and described the ambassador arrangement as “match made in Old Spice heaven” due not only to Sweat’s name, but also his “great sense of humor”.
Sweat even took an active role in the campaign’s development: working with his own marketing agency Rubicon Talent, he contributed several ideas to increase its authenticity.
“We always want to make sure that players’ personalities shine and that they come across as genuinely as possible,” Krehbiel added,
“On set, Montez brought his own voice into the creative and had fun with the delivery.”
Comment:
The Procter & Gamble brand’s ‘Sweat Defense’ range is found in all 32 NFL locker rooms as part of a partnership which runs under P&G’s umbrella NFL partnership.
This initiative sees the 82-year-old grooming industry tentpole continue its relentless, comic quest for marketing drama and ‘Sweat Defense’ seems like a smart approach to connecting two entities – sports and antiperspirant – in a way that doesn’t feel trite.
While Sweat himself also has an endorsement deals with Adidas.
Links:
Old Spice
https://www.youtube.com/user/OldSpice
https://www.facebook.com/OldSpice/
https://www.instagram.com/oldspice/
Wieden + Kennedy Portland,
https://www.wk.com/about/office/portland/
Rubicon Talent
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