I’m on a horse

First the items and then the analysis and discussion.

30 second version:

15 second version:

This commercial first ran at the Super Bowl. There were a whole bunch of interesting commercials during that game that made me go “what in the world were they thinking?” Somehow, Brett missed this one during the game. But he recently saw it and we’ve had several discussions on it.

From my point of view, these commercials are clearly geared towards the woman in the house. They are appealing to her wants and desires. While the product is not for women, the advertisers are recognizing that it is the woman in the house who generally goes to the store and buys stuff like this. I noticed that there have been several commercials for men’s products lately that seem to be directed towards women for this reason. This commercial has set up a “sexy” man that’s fulfilling all the stereotypical fantasy desires of women – muscles, deep voice, romantic boat, tickets to a desired event, diamonds, and the white horse. That horse is not white by accident. And the idea is that while the middle-aged balding guy with a pot-belly sitting next to the woman will never have those looks or coming riding in on a white horse, maybe he can at least smell like he could.

Brett had a different reaction to it. He saw the commercial as being directed towards men. Instead of the guy being set up as a stereotypical fantasy for women, he’s set up as a stereotypical intimidating threat to the men. In essence the commercial is creating competition for the guy. And if he doesn’t want to lose his woman to the man on the horse, then he needs to use that product. He might not have a boat or ride a horse (backwards even), but he can at least smell like he could. And maybe that will give him the edge in his own romantic conquest.

Side note: Brett doesn’t use Old Spice currently. Not after I started laughing that they are the “official” scent of confidence. Where did they get that contract with confidence is what I want to know.

So is the commercial appealing to a woman’s fantasy or to a man’s sense of competition?

Either way, “I’m on a horse.”