Old Spice Guy Now Making Custom Videos for Social Media Fans

The idea: 'Anything is possible when your man smells like Old Spice’ rings true in this viral phenomenon.

This brilliant example of a social media campaign by Wieden & Kennedy Portland proves that ads can actually talk to you. Bloggers and fans were name-checked in personalised videos tweeted by Old Spice Guy himself; ex American footballer Isaiah Mustafa. He’s now an internet sensation racking up over 55 million views making his channel the most viewed sponsored channel in history.

The Old Spice Guy made hilarious videos for well-known Internet folk. People including Ellen Degeneres, Alyssa Milanio and celebrity blogger Perez Hilton. Anonymous people who had blogged, tweeted or commented about him in the past were also targeted.

The Old Spice Guy was even able to help Twitter user @Jsbeals with his marriage proposal. @Jsbeals tweeted this request to Old Spice Guy: "Can U Ask my girlfriend to marry me? Her name is Angela A. Hutt-Chamberlin." Less than three hours later, Mustafa was holding a ring in the glow of candlelight and asking Angela to "make @Jsbeals the happiest man in the world and marry him in real life."

The campaign is perfect for becoming huge virally. It taps into specific bloggers who have access to many followers allowing it to grow and grow. It creates an exciting platform that people are willing and excited to engage with as they are creating it themselves.

The first ad, 'The Man Your Man Could Smell Like', has racked up over 12 million views alone and went on to win the Grand Prix award in the film category at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival.

Strength for Sawyer

Last week saw a couple of birthdays in the Inferno family. One of which belonged to our loyal I.T. technician Chris. So a few of us got together and hosted an impromptu brainstorm.

"What could we possibly get the man who has everything?" we asked.

It had to be something he'd love, something so close to his heart that he could almost taste it. We'd cracked it "Guinness is the answer!"

Not only was Guinness the answer, it forms the basis for an idea that quickly got a whole lot bigger. An idea that now involves Chris and at least ten of his colleagues (including me of course) on a day trip to Dublin to experience the delights of the Guinness factory.

I for one cannot wait for Saturday 17th April to come around. Stay tuned to see what we all get up to and more importantly whether Chris will make it onto the flight back to London.

Good Times

Well it's been a while but the time has come. I am about to inject a new lease of life into 'Living For The Weekday'. But before i do let's quickly come bang up to date with what we've been up to since 23rd June 2009 (that long...).

Dani and I were on placement at Inferno at the time of the last post and we're thrilled to announce that we clung on long enough to persuade our CD to give us our first official job in advertising. First good times of the post. Since then our lives have disappeared into a blurry black-hole of awesomeness.

What to talk about next? I must move on to the YCC. Fellow creative and Young Creative Council founding father Craig Kind asked us to take charge of the YCC. Unbelievable. We now run this group of 1300+ creative minds on Facebook along with another very cool team Gav & Julia. We have some amazingly exciting projects in the pipeline so be sure to stay up to date here and at the YCC group. Secondary good times.

The last major good time development of the past few months saw us gain the responsibility of looking after placements here at Inferno. When I say gain, I mean that we hassled our CD so much that he had no option but to let us get on with it. Seriously, we love doing it. The buzz of meeting great young teams during book crits and placements is almost comparable with the buzz of getting a great piece of work out. So far we've had the pleasure of giving placements to Mandy & Laura, Reuben & Datch, Ben & Milo and Dave & Dee. Who will be next? We're always on the lookout for bright young things, if you're an ambitiously interested creative team then drop us a line.

YESWai

Top of the afternoon to you. We are still alive don't worry. We've returned to spread news of a friend on a mission. Wei sets off on her first ever Glastonbury adventure tonight. To make it even more special she is performing like a monkey to bring you 'YesWei'. Think of it as a 21st century version of the cult 90's show Challenge Aneka.

Visit YesWai to lay down the next big challenge and stay up to date with her completed tasks. She will be running the blog via her mobile phone once on site. Break a leg Wai. Don't worry that's not a challenge from us, we miss you already.

Haway the lads

On Tuesday we went to a private screening of Awaydays down at the The Moving Picture Company (MPC.)

Above: Director Pat Holden and one of the leading actors Liam Boyle (Elvis).

In brief : Awaydays is based on the bestselling novel by Kevin Sampson. Set in the post-punk era in the North West of England. Paul Carty (Nicky Bell) is 19, good-looking, funny, clever - and bored out of his mind. His mother died a year ago. He lives in middle class suburbia with his silently grieving father and feisty young sister, Molly. Carty works as a junior civil servant and spends all his wages on gigs, clubs, records and football. It's at a match that he meets Elvis (Liam Boyle). 

Elvis changes everything. He's part of a gang called The Pack. The Pack is legendary; they dress in a cultish, almost effeminate style that's at odds with the Boneheads and Bootboys they fight against. They have androgynous wedge haircuts worn with Lacoste tennis shirts, Lois jeans and Adidas Forest Hills training shoes. For as long as he has been going to football, Carty has been fascinated by The Pack. Now Elvis is offering him a way in..

Hopefully the guys from MPC will be popping in next week to have at even more filmic delights and we'd both highly recommend the movie too! It's out May 22nd ... today. So go see it!

Catchy Track, Beautifully Shot, Beautifully Edited

Casual Nabs Chat

When we say chat, we mean an opportunity to share an evening with the industries absolute cream. 

The event was hosted by no less than Sir John Hegarty, the H of the BBH global empire and the 'Michael Parkinson' of the evening, seated far left. With Hegarty, a panel including from L to R, one half of the BBH ECD team and close protégé to the host, Nick Gill. Second in line "the number one most awarded director in the world" Danny Kleinman. Thirdly creative partner at Adam&Eve, Ben Priest and last and least...Tony Davidson, part of the all-conquering creative duo at W+K London.

Slightly expensive at £45 for an hour and a half, we were lucky enough to get tickets through work. Awesome experience, looking forward to seeing Hegs again the week after next at D&AD.