By Mindy Charski
Photo by Danielle Levitt
New ads created by Wieden + Kennedy and shot by Danielle Levitt
launch Old Spice’s Swagger as “the scent that makes a difference!”
by juxtaposing slick headshots of entertainer LL Cool J and athlete
Brian Urlacher as they look today with outrageous “pre-Swagger”
portraits.
“The joke is they used our product and now they’re awesome,” says
art director Eric Baldwin, who is based in the agency’s Portland,
Ore. office. “We’re taking a goofy approach on [the classic
transformation idea] and making it as ridiculous as
possible.”
To play up the joke, the agency needed to find models who clearly
don’t resemble the Urlacher or LL of the past but who still offer
subtle clues to their present appearances. The Urlacher “before”
model has blondish hair similar to the real Urlacher, for instance,
and LL’s model has short cropped hair.
Likewise, the creatives “liked the idea of messing with time,”
Baldwin says: “You’re not really sure if the photo was taken
yesterday or five years ago -- they could have rubbed this stuff on
and it happened overnight kind of thing.”
The portraits needed to feel real, but New York-based Levitt’s
images also had to be “visually arresting and throw you off guard,”
Baldwin says. The shop sought a shooter “who could capture
beautiful images but also had the skill to make something look
bad,” he says, adding, “It’s actually hard to make something look
cheesy.”
The team chose a heinous green background for the “before” shots to
help with that effort. “That one kept rising to the top as the one
that makes you want to barf the most,” the AD says.
In contrast, the modern-day portraits of Urlacher, who plays for
the Chicago Bears, and LL were intended to look like “glorified
publicity shots,” Baldwin says. In both the men needed to look cool
and “aware” of the other photos. (Urlacher was chosen in part
because he has a relationship with Old Spice. As for LL, Baldwin
says, “We always like to use pop culture icons in our work.”
The ads for the brand of Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble
target men 18 to 34. They broke earlier this month and are running
through February in magazines including
Entertainment Weekly,
Sports Illustrated, and
Vibe.
Spice Boys
Sept 25, 2008
By Mindy Charski
New ads created by Wieden + Kennedy and shot by Danielle Levitt launch Old Spice’s Swagger as “the scent that makes a difference!” by juxtaposing slick headshots of entertainer LL Cool J and athlete Brian Urlacher as they look today with outrageous “pre-Swagger” portraits.
“The joke is they used our product and now they’re awesome,” says art director Eric Baldwin, who is based in the agency’s Portland, Ore. office. “We’re taking a goofy approach on [the classic transformation idea] and making it as ridiculous as possible.”
To play up the joke, the agency needed to find models who clearly don’t resemble the Urlacher or LL of the past but who still offer subtle clues to their present appearances. The Urlacher “before” model has blondish hair similar to the real Urlacher, for instance, and LL’s model has short cropped hair.
Likewise, the creatives “liked the idea of messing with time,” Baldwin says: “You’re not really sure if the photo was taken yesterday or five years ago -- they could have rubbed this stuff on and it happened overnight kind of thing.”
The portraits needed to feel real, but New York-based Levitt’s images also had to be “visually arresting and throw you off guard,” Baldwin says. The shop sought a shooter “who could capture beautiful images but also had the skill to make something look bad,” he says, adding, “It’s actually hard to make something look cheesy.”
The team chose a heinous green background for the “before” shots to help with that effort. “That one kept rising to the top as the one that makes you want to barf the most,” the AD says.
In contrast, the modern-day portraits of Urlacher, who plays for the Chicago Bears, and LL were intended to look like “glorified publicity shots,” Baldwin says. In both the men needed to look cool and “aware” of the other photos. (Urlacher was chosen in part because he has a relationship with Old Spice. As for LL, Baldwin says, “We always like to use pop culture icons in our work.”
The ads for the brand of Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble target men 18 to 34. They broke earlier this month and are running through February in magazines including
Entertainment Weekly, Sports Illustrated, and
Vibe.
