If you had to name the best advertiser of the year
thus far, Old Spice would take the crown. No doubt. Isaiah Mustafa, The Man Your Man Could Smell Like, has
charmingly and humorously swan-dived into our collective hearts through hilarious television and Internet
campaigns, and, by no coincidence, Old Spice’s sales have doubled this year.
It is on that momentum, then, Old Spice releases its new “Fresh Collection” — “where freshness smells from.”
As much as Old Spice has thrived on non-sequiturs (“The tickets are now diamonds!”), the statement makes more
sense than you’d expect, if you think hard enough.
Old Spice maintains its lightheartedness on paper, but the substance of smell is serious business. The new
fragrances are destination-inspired, including locales such as Fiji, Matterhorn, Cyprus and Denali, and they
have a range of up to 15 scent sensations. Some are as simple as rose and musk, others contain kalamanzi and dewy botanicals. Yes, dewy
botanicals.
We were sent a sample of each to try, and I’ve never used deodorant that smelled so luscious. Luscious is a
strange word for men’s fragrance, but I see the line of thought here: When you are as much man as you are,
you should present a bouquet of aroma for whoever beholds you.
Fiji is the fruitiest of them all, smelling like a gift basket of plump, South Pacific vegetation. This is
the one that had the kalamanzi. It makes you think of wine in the way it has one intrigued, trying to
decipher the subtle flavours that abound. But it’s light and dazzling like an ice wine, not deep and heavy
like a red. Quite the metaphor for deodorant, I know.
Cyprus presents fruit with a mix of greenery that gives the smell a stronger earthiness. It’s mature with
base notes like musk and cedarwood, yet a hint of exoticism endures through pineapple and jasmine. Old Spice
says Cyprus smells like “limes, an ocean breeze and freedom,” and they hit the nail on the head with this
one. By the way, according to Old Spice, all of these fragrances smell like freedom. Who knew it could be so
easy?
Denali is a dive into the wilderness with top notes like fresh air, crisp fruits and spearmint, middle notes
like lavender and licorice and base notes like vanilla and amber. It takes the usual “mountain-fresh” for a
spiced-up spin that lands you in a zone that’s nothing but alluring.
Matterhorn had the potential to be generic, aiming for the “icy mountain” effect, but after a “scent
challenge” where we compared it to a similar brand, Matterhorn takes the mountains higher than they’ve ever
been. While one was overpowering and blunt, Matterhorn was rich and dynamic, reserving smell for a
three-to-four-second tingle instead of a one-second attack. Lavender and Icy Mint come through and
unforgettably redesign a classic.
And like a man, I sweated this weekend. While I can’t remember which deodorant I was wearing at the time, I
was never smelly. This leads me to grant each one a stamp of quality approval.
With this new collection, Old Spice has a product that lives up to its promotion. Visit the smells of these
exotic locales for an experience in freshness like never before. And as Old Spice reminds us, “freshness is a
destination, not a journey.”•
Photos courtesy of Old Spice
