Stephanopoulos seeks advice for Obama from Old Spice Guy. Plus a discussion on gender/advertising.

[ladypolitik]

On Twitter, @ GeorgeStephanopoulos wrote:"@OldSpice Hey Old Spice Man -- Political question: President's lost some female support. How does WH get those women voters back?
Answer:

Click to view

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8Bli13rO9A&

Context: Old Spice has engaged in a two-day viral

Comments

[ladypolitik]

I dunno, I've gotten the "Hello Ladies" from completely fit and handsome guys IRL, and it's just as creepy. This viral ad campaign, on the other hand, strikes me as being so clearly silly that I dont recoil in the manner I do when IRL men act like this.

But true, it's clearly heteronormative/cis-centric in Old Spice-verse.

[turtleyurtle1]

idk there was one vid where he was like "To impress your guy of girl..." or something to like, an Anonymous comment. I don't really remember which one because I've been watching them all day. XD;

This is going to sound stupid, but: The actual world is heteronormative-cis-centric, is it not? And therefore a satire on that would also be heteronormative/cis-centric? Furthermore- I'm not sure what exactly I should expect: Should Old-spice guy be saying "Or Man~" after every sentence to make it more Politcally Correct? If we're subverting/satirizing gender roles here, it only makes sense to make fun using those roles. Adding "genderqueer/third gender/non-gendered/bi-gendered/etc" to every joke of his seems out of place, simply because that's not the point. I have a feeling if someone gay wrote in, he would respond with something (perhaps) about twice the manliness. But that's just me.

[supercrook]

Really? That wouldn't surprise me but it'd make me smile. They might just be hedging their bets in case anonymous was a female commenter, but either way, awesome. (Also, I know several women who use Old Spice after seeing these ads. They definitely make me want to, but that's not jarring with my uncertain gender identity.)

[keeni84]

I don't think it's supposed to be "satire", but it's definitely meant to be over-the top.

Compare the Old Spice commercials with this:

Now, I'm not going to play the "which one is better" game, but the Old Spice commercials give me a completely different impression than the Dodge commercials.

[saramiskismet]

Hate that commercial, HAAAATE.

Probably because it acts like the menz are being trampled upon because they don't get to be lazy/tell the women what to do, whereas while this ad is still promoting traditional masculinity, it promotes more positive aspects of it? Like, the ad would be perfect if it didn't denigrate less manly men, but otherwise Old Spice is way more positive.

[muppetfromhell]

Dude. The Old Spice guy character *is* a metrosexual.

[haruhiko]

He really isn't. And the fact that some people think he is shows just how skewed our perceptions of masculinity are.

[muppetfromhell]

well a lot of my opinions on frivolous topics have been declared categorically wrong tonight, so why stop now.

[lafinjack]

What? No they haven't, you are categorically wrong about that.

[haruhiko]

Agreed.

[turtleyurtle1]

I think you missed the several vids where Old Spice guy claimed to have "all his tattoos bitten off" or "learned from the swans by speaking swan to swan dive" or how he boils pasta by sticking his head in the oven.

Uh... just saying, that to me sounds like Hyberbole and a half's "MOAR RAZORS" xD; It's very much hypermasculine satire, because no one sticks their head in an oven just to boil water for their pasta. Haha.