Old Spice Analysis

Old spice is an American brand, introduced in 1930s, which sells male grooming products such as deodorants, shampoo’s and soaps. This particular advert with the face of the brand Isiah Mustafa seems illogical and fictitious, due to its erratic choice of images and text, which are key aspects through which meanings and ideologies are communicated.

The first ideology which can be applied to the old spice advert is Barthes ideology of mythical masculinity. Barthes believes that men are almost always portrayed as superior to women in the media. Barthes views these representations of men as codes with meanings which reflect the current culture of society, and when these images are repeated in the media, they begin to create meanings about the world. ‘Mythical’ implies how the images communicated in the media are a fictional, which do not exist in the real world. Evidence of mythical masculinity is seen in the old spice advert, where Isiah Mustafa is an embodiment of the mythical man. He appears strong, confident, believing that he is better than anyone else, seen in his facial expression which is a smile with a smirk. The volcanic explosion on his head and the imagery of the Bahamas around him depict him as a super strong man because they suggest how he can bear anything, making him Barthes ideal mythical man audiences often view in the media.

Butler’s ideology of gender performativity is also communicated in the old spice advert. Butler believes that gender roles are created through performance, when a series of repetitive tasks become naturalised, making gender a social construct of society. Butler’s theory is seen in the advert where Isiah Mustafa performs the role of a hyper masculine man. He is at the centre of extremely crowded imagery, for example, a volcanic explosion is happening on his head, a man is seen fishing for a shark from his left ear and there’s an island on each of his shoulders. This weird composition of the advert connotes a high level of energy, and Mustafa being at the centre of it all implies how he is capable of bearing this overpowering energy, which is what we would associate with his role as a hyper male.

The most significant viewpoint through which the old spice advert can be analysed is through Baudrillard’s ideology of Postmodernism. Baudrillard believes that we exist in a society of simulacra, where copies of reality replace originality and the boundary between the real and imaginary has disappeared. Evidence of this is seen in the advert which constructs a surreal image of the Bahamas on the body of Isiah Mustafa. We can see a woman sunbathing under the palm trees, an island on which a man is sitting and another on which a ships is drowning and a mermaid is attacking a man hanging from it. All these images are highly photo shopped and edited simulacra’s representing the Bahamas. Baudrillard’s ideology is also supported through the final line of the main text which reads; ‘This fact has not been fact checked’. This line sums up Baudrillards theory of postmodernism in the media, where audiences are incapable of sensing the difference between original things and copies of them.

Overall, it can be argued that the old spice advert communicates a range of ideologies which offer a deep analysis of the advert and allow audiences to discover potential meanings. Baudrillard’s theory of Postmodernism is perhaps the most dominantly relevant one here, as the entire advert is an imaginary construction, showcasing diverse and illogical situations, which all work together to create a surreal image of masculinity.