Get your creative juices flowing with Kotex!

Warning: This post is about vaginas and periods. Behold the Kotex menstrual pad above, which I designed myself! Yes, U by Kotex is holding a period-based design contest called the Ban the Bland Design Challenge, and is asking for your most inspired tampon art. The design tool is great, designer Patricia Field is in there somewhere, and the idea makes a lot of sense—at least, for the outside packaging and the case. Frankly, the main reason to buy U by Kotex is the colorful design. It's nice that when I accidentally drop a tampon from my purse, people think it's some kind of weird European sugar packet. One time, an idiot noticed the R on the Kotex regular I was holding and actually told me he was impressed that I had monogrammed lipstick holders. You can't buy that sort of freedom to walk to the bathroom unnoticed. However, even if I win the contest (unlikely, I know, despite the all-important ad-blogger vote), I'm not going to whip a tampon out and say, "Hey guys! Guess who designed this bad boy?!" Or, for the love of God, try to coordinate my pad with my outfit. Kotex suggests that you "make your mark on the future of feminine protection." I guess I just don't want to. And I would suggest a new copywriter. Because as much as I want to be period-positive, there are some contexts in which I do not want to get my "creative juices flowing."

Filed under Contests, Cullers, Design, Kotex, Personal care
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Behind the scenes of the latest Old Spice ad

Old Spice takes you behind the scenes of "Scent Vacation" (the ad with the mountain-goat harp) in this video, which features cameos by Wieden + Kennedy creatives Eric Kallman and Craig Allen. But it's Isaiah Mustafa, of course, who gets top billing. "The writers, Eric and Craig, they're super guys," he says. "And I love saying their funny words."

Filed under Nudd, Old Spice, Personal care, Wieden + Kennedy
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Vagisil makes brides more happy, less itchy

Cold feet is the most common wedding-day affliction, but itchy vagina is the most annoying! Vagisil takes the prize for most cringeworthy TV commercial currently airing. ("Crisis averted! Until later that night," says Jezebel.) It's great that Vagisil can get marriages off on the right foot, but can it do anything about the seven-year itch?

Filed under Nudd, Personal care, Vagisil
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Old Spice guy pairs up with Komodo dragon

Isaiah Mustafa returns in this new clip to plug Old Spice's Komodo body wash. Based on the beast's actual behavior and dietary habits, here's what would happen if a Komodo dragon chose to stalk and devour the preening pitchman. The hungry reptile would, ironically enough, use its keen sense of smell to locate Mustafa by following that clean, manly Old Spice aroma. It would then use its cruel, bacteria-soaked fangs to tear off large hunks of the spokeshunk—buh-bye, washboard abs!—and swallow the pieces whole. The beast might even ram the suave stud's torso against a tree in order to force it down its throat. Post digestion, the dragon would regurgitate bits such as bones and hair ... and one grotesquely befouled bath towel. Alas, none of this happens in the spot below. The ad sure would've rocked if it had. Komodo dragon: killer. Old Spice commercials: not so much anymore.

Filed under Gianatasio, Old Spice, Personal care, Wieden + Kennedy
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Old Spice guy takes you on a scent vacation

Well, here it is—Old Spice's new Isaiah Mustafa spot, which 16-year-old "superfan" Chris Gatewood enjoyed all by himself for the past 24 hours before posting it to his Web site a short while ago. The superfan idea was sort of fun, if a little anti-climactic. The spot itself? You decide. The mountain-goat harp is amusing. Is that faint praise?

Filed under Nudd, Old Spice, Personal care, Wieden + Kennedy
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16-year-old superfan gets new Old Spice ad

Old Spice has set its "Superfan" plan in motion, officially handing its latest commercial to a single fan—a 16-year-old named Chris Gatewood—to do whatever he wants with before Monday, when it breaks on TV. Gatewood got the call, literally, from Isaiah Mustafa, as you can see in the video below. He was chosen apparently for the Old Spice parody video he did back in October (also posted below). So far, he's not revealing details of the spot, but he says on Twitter: "The new Old Spice ad is absolutely amazing! If you think the previous ones were great, the next one will blow you away!" Well done, Chris. UPDATE: It looks like Chris plans on posting the ad online today. He writes on Twitter: "To the people wanting to see the latest Old Spice commercial, just wait a bit and follow me until I post the link! RT so people will know."

Filed under Nudd, Old Spice, Personal care, Wieden + Kennedy
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Angels fall from sky for a whiff of Axe spray

Lynx (aka Axe in the U.S.) is making some big assumptions in this new U.K. spot for Excite body spray from BBH London. First, that it's the product's scent that makes angels drop from the sky. They could be falling through the holes that aerosols burn in the ozone layer. Second, exclusively casting supermodels as the angels is a pretty bold leap. It's commonly understood that angels are androgynous, so right away they're straying from convention. Which is fine, but what if you spray this Excite crap all over yourself and these little guys show up? Have fun being all hunky on your Vespa with that going on.

Filed under Axe, BBH, Europe, Kiefaber, Personal care
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Poll: Has the Old Spice guy run his course?

Does the Old Spice guy still smell fresh, or has he passed his sell-by date? My colleagues Rebecca and Ellie are excited for Isaiah Mustafa's return. Still, I can't help but feel that in today's ADD culture, it feels like his time has past. Maybe it's just the new video, but I didn't find him all that funny or even particularly likable. Mustafa comes off as tired and played out. Others agree. GolinHarris's Len Kendall thinks he comes off as redundant. Mullen's Edward Boches thinks Wieden + Kennedy might have a new writer on the account. Commercial director Jason Zada dredges up a notorious Happy Days episode in which Fonzie leaps over a certain much-feared aquatic beast. I'm sure Mustafa still has a wellspring of support out there. (His "I'm Back" video already has 250,000 views.) And Old Spice is counting on that with its "superfan" idea, in which the brand will seed the next spot with a single fan and let him or her disseminate it with their friends before it officially breaks on Feb. 7. It's always hard to retire an ad franchise—look at how past their prime the "Mac vs. PC" spots were in the end—but it might just be time for Old Spice to hang up the towel. What do you think? UPDATE: The Old Spice guy explains the "Super Fan" idea in this video.

Filed under Morrissey, Old Spice, Personal care, Wieden + Kennedy
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Old Spice guy returns to say he is returning

Isaiah Mustafa, the only Old Spice guy who doesn't need an epic mount in the form of a raven or tiger, has returned in order to announce that he's returning. This short YouTube clip of him in his iconic shower stall promises us a campaign of new advertisements which are not only educational but whose entertainment value is second to none. However, the only preview provided is a deep look into his striking brown eyes as he thinks about the new commercials. Consider me teased.

Filed under Cullers, Old Spice, Personal care, Wieden + Kennedy
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Bear Grylls tests Degree with meat ponchos

In this new Degree Adrenaline deodorant spot, Bear Grylls, professional badass and the star of Man vs. Wild, conducts the first meat-poncho product test by outfitting three average guys in meat and releasing a pack of wolves. The only one who makes it out alive—and without pit stains—is the man wearing Degree, of course. The spot continues a partnership that started two months ago with the Degree Chain of Adventure videos, in which Mark Sanchez, Kevin Durant and Tony Hawk challenged Bear to three extreme survival challenges. The challenges were pretty insane but profoundly unfunny. With this new spot, they've returned to today's mainstay of male deodorant advertising—humor. You may remember that Bear used to be the spokesman for Sure, but he's not being two-faced. In Britain, Degree is Sure. (The U.S. version of Sure is a competitor.) See an early Bear spot for Sure here—actually his first TV appearance, and a reminder that deodorant wasn't always about growing six awesome heads that shoot lightning.

Filed under Celebrity endorsements, Cullers, Degree, Personal care
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WikiLeaks good for menstrual-pad business

A few advertisers have tried to jump on the back of the WikiLeaks story, unpleasant as it may be. Perhaps the simplest tie-in has been this billboard in Pakistan for Butterfly maxipads. "WikiLeaks. Butterfly doesn't," says the ad, from RG Blue Communications in Karachi. Art director Munir Bhatti explains the complex and daring strategy: "I could have also shown a girl like other ads have. But the idea was to make it very different and to use the word WikiLeaks—and that's what this is." There you have it. Via @osocio.

Filed under Middle East, Nudd, Personal care, WikiLeaks
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Guys, don't dry your face with your testicles

Here's the most bizarre and disgusting bath-towel ad you will ever see. It's for the True Clean Towel, a real product that features the outline of a body printed on it, so you know which parts of the towel you should use to dry your face, and which parts you should use to dry your groin. This is important information, according to the ad, because if you don't keep track, you will end up essentially rubbing your nutsack all over your face. I can't even believe this commercial exists. Via Adrants.

Filed under Nudd, Personal care
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Brut bitch-slaps Old Spice with online game

Old Spice's rivals continue to vent their frustration over the brand's pop-culture-sensation Isaiah Mustafa campaign. First, Axe Canada positioned itself as the deodorant "for men who'd rather be with a woman than on a horse." Now, Brut has gotten slap-happy with a silly Web game in which you're encouraged to slap a guy in a towel. (You can also slap a mime—and vote on whether "the Playa" or the "Speedo Guy" should be presented for slapping next.) You can choose to hit the towel guy with a spice jar, a ship in a bottle, or a bottle of Brut. He reacts to a blow from the latter by whinnying like a horse.

Filed under Brut, Nudd, Old Spice, Personal care
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Old Spice saluting its million Facebook fans

To celebrate hitting the storied 1 million "Likes" mark on Facebook, Old Spice has treated fans to the explosively awesome image above. It's truly something to behold. You could look at this thing 50 times and always see something new. But the best part has been the reaction from fans, many of whom want to have it tattooed on their bodies as soon as they leave work today. Among our favorite comments: "You can almost feel yourself sailing into odiferous destiny aboard the Old Spice sloop, the Soaring Man's Fist." "‎*falls on my knees, eyes go blind, speechless*" "This would have looked SO awesome on the hood of Tony Stewart's Chevy." And of course: "Old Spice fans should start a biker gang, however THE BIKES ARE NOW HORSES."

Filed under Facebook, Griner, Old Spice, Personal care, Social media
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Axe calls out Old Spice for its horse fixation

Isaiah Mustafa has already defected to Microsoft, and now Old Spice's humiliation is complete: It's getting made fun of on Canadian billboards. How the mighty have fallen. Via Time Newsfeed.

Filed under Axe, Canada, Nudd, Old Spice, Personal care
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Ray Lewis grows extra evil Old Spice heads

Here's the latest Ray Lewis spot for Old Spice from Wieden + Kennedy. It positions the deodorant as an edible electro-magnetic mini-universe whose only side effect is the possible sprouting of several extra lightning-spewing heads. The more over the top these Lewis spots get, the more impressive Isaiah Mustafa's effortlessness looks by comparison. See the previous Ray Lewis spots here and here.

Filed under Nudd, Old Spice, Personal care, Wieden + Kennedy
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Breast checks are fun again with Boob Lube

Video is SFW. October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, so we'll be seeing lots of campaigns around the general topic of boobs. Here's one for Boob Lube, aka "the Original Breast Check Soap," which is a real product you can buy. It's produced by the Original ta-tas Brand, which claims to donate "at least 25 percent" of the proceeds of every purchase to fight breast cancer. Via Buzzfeed.

Filed under Breast cancer, Nudd, Parody, Personal care
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As advertising stars, monkeys never get old

Publicis's current Garnier Fructis campaign is amusing, but the ad below, with the dandruff-eating monkey, doesn't go nearly far enough. Am I alone in waiting for the little furry fiend to gnaw off the big flaky fiend's ears and eat them? And possibly his brains as well? Now that would be a Cannes winner. See two more spots from the series after the jump.
  Despite the complaints of hairless animal-rights liberals, non-human primates (real, animatronic or otherwise) rarely fail to please in advertising, and 2010 has been a banner year for them:
  • Dog and monkey maintain long-distance friendship via PCs, befoul keyboards with drool, shedding, beastly excretions. (Toshiba)
  • Metaphorical monkey on guy's back grows enormous, craves hot wings, doesn't leave a tip. (Chicken Licken)
  • Again, monkeys on people's backs, this time lighting their cigarettes. Hey, those are helper monkeys! (Quit Plan)
  • Amorous King Kong-type comes on to faux Fay Wray, whose biggest concern is his dirty hands. Lady, he's an ape! Imagine what the kids will look like. (Green Cross Hand Sanitzer)
  • Apes are homeless and living on the streets. Strange, since so much advertising work is available. (Born Free)
  • Invisible monkey. (Dodge)
  Bottom line: Everything really is better with a gorilla, even a blog post that's devolved into link bait.

Click to read more ...

Filed under Animals, Garnier Fructis, Gianatasio, Personal care, Publicis
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Axe advising guys to 'scrub away the skank'

What's this, an Axe advertisement that's been deemed offensive to women? Shocking! The latest complaint comes from Ms. magazine, which takes exception to Axe's advice that guys can "scrub away the skank" with Axe's Snake Peel pumpkin-orange body wash after a random overnight encounter. The ad in question sends readers to TheFixers.com, a faux advice show for men that also did not impress the Ms. writer. "Thanks, Axe," she writes. "You sure know how to make a girl feel special." See the full ad after the jump. Via Adland.

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Filed under Axe, Controversy, Nudd, Personal care
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Your amputated leg wants you to use Suave

Disembodied legs get more loving from women who wash with Suave Mango Mandarin body wash, according to this Photoshop disaster posted over at Jezebel. The longer you look at it, the less comfortable you feel.

Filed under Nudd, Personal care, Suave
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Gillette's subway ads offer B.O. terror alerts

If you smell something, say something? Gillette is fighting back against Isaiah Mustafa and the Old Spice frenzy with a campaign at the intersection of BBDO and B.O. But I wouldn't hold my breath (or my nose) waiting for any awards. Ads running in New York City subways spoof post-9/11 terrorism alerts, urging that straphangers be mindful of body odor instead. Perhaps after nine years it's time to take Tom Ridge's color-coded attack warnings with a little humor. So, instead of the former Homeland Security chief's "Elevated Yellow," maybe it's time to go with "Mello Yello" (reintroduced recently by Coke). Images via Gothamist, which has more, including a gas-mask execution.

Filed under BBDO, English, Gillette, Personal care
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Old Spice's Ray Lewis inspires bears to talk

Ray Lewis, rider of the jet-powered robotic raven, is back in this new Old Spice spot, in which he claims that animals learn to talk just so they can hang out with him. Old Spice and Wieden + Kennedy are in a funny position now. This whole Ray Lewis thing isn't going over so well with viewers. It's not terrible—it's just not Isaiah Mustafa. The top-rated YouTube comment for the spot below reads: "Look at this video, now back to Isaiah's, now back at this video, now back at Isaiah's. Sadly, it isn't Isaiah's, but if producers stopped using Ray Lewis and switched to using Isaiah Mustafa for their commercials, they could make more awesome commercials. Look down, back up, What just happened? This video just got more dislikes while Isaiah's got more likes. Anything is possible when commercials are done right, I'm on a YouTube."

Filed under Nudd, Old Spice, Personal care, Wieden + Kennedy
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Ray Lewis rides jet-propelled Old Spice bird

Old Spice's latest ad character is no Isaiah Mustafa, but it is fairly epic. It's a robotic, jet-powered, laser-blasting space raven, and it gives Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis a ride in this Wieden + Kennedy spot. The YouTube blurb helpfully explains the action: "Which planet is the one with the rings around it? Anyways, that is the planet that Ray Lewis annihilated on his quest to destroy body odor." Via Illegal Advertising.

Filed under Nudd, Old Spice, Personal care, Wieden + Kennedy
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Summer's Eve didn't see a problem with ad

After apologizing last week for telling women that cleaning one's vagina is the first step toward getting a pay raise at work, Summer's Eve has elaborated on how the ad in question was approved to run. In short, brand manager Angela Bryant says they "never made the connections" that it might be an unfortunate message to send out. That they didn't see anything wrong at first is worrisome and weird, but at least they're following up and being honest. They're also vowing to improve outreach to make future ads more "relevant and respectful." Below is Bryant's full statement, posted in comments under our original item:

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Filed under Controversy, Nudd, Personal care, Summer's Eve, Vaginas
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Summer's Eve ad: Douche more, earn more

Summer's Eve placed this big ad for its Feminine Wash in Women's Day magazine suggesting that the cleanliness of her privates plays a pivotal role in whether or not a woman will get a raise at work. Literally the ad says that step one toward getting paid more is keeping yourself clean "down there." The premise of the ad—that a woman's ultimate worth is the sum of her ladyparts—is insulting enough, but the ad places use of the product above things like establishing your accomplishments and worth to the company. Even if this is some grand attempt at satire, as some claim, it fails because Women's Day isn't an outlet for satire, so the effect will be lost. Maybe Summer's Eve thinks it needs to position itself as a boon to careerism, since the medical community doesn't seem to think much of douching these days. Via Daily Kos. UPDATE: In the comments section, Summer's Eve brand manager Angela Bryant writes: "I would like to first of all apologize if this ad in anyway has offended anyone. We are taking immediate next steps to remove the ad from circulation. We want you to know that Fleet Laboratories and the Summer's Eve brand have the utmost respect for women. While we understand how some may come to an alternative conclusion regarding our recent ad, that was never our intention. Thank you."

Filed under Kiefaber, Personal care, Summer's Eve
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