Old Spice has run several of the decade’s most buzzworthy commercials, but few have so clearly seemed developed by Norma and Norman Bates.
“Mom Song,” which debuted this weekend and received exposure during Sunday’s Green Bay Packers vs. San Francisco 49ers NFL Wildcard game, sparked condemnation as creepy from a seemingly endless supply of social media users.
The spot, which promotes Old Spice’s Re-fresh Body Spray line, features mothers lamenting over the fact that the fragrance helped turn their precious baby boys into men.
Having lost their sons to manhood (and girlfriends), the heartbroken mothers are left with no choice but to metaphorically spy in the most frightening (albeit creative) ways possible.
While the concept of a mother vs. girlfriend rivalry is nothing new, the video’s inclusion of a melancholy “Mom Song” and numerous instances of outlandish stalking bring the tone into the realm of weird. That one mother is actually “spying” on her son as he changes (and not even on a date) only adds fuel to the fire of creepiness.
Insofar as commercials are designed to get people talking, however, the creative team behind the ad might be fine with “creepy” label. Ads that are creepy and disturbing attract interest; those that are bland do not.
And though “Old Spice Creepy” yields countless results on Twitter, the video has earned praise from YouTube users. One called it, “the greatest thing that I have seen a company do in a while.”
The lyrics and video follow:
Oh, I didn’t see it coming
But it came in a can
Now my sweet son’s sprayed into a man
Mine too and hey we know just who to blame
When our sons have fun with women and misbehave
Old Spice, Old Spice sprayed a man of my son
Now he’s kissing all the women and his chores aren’t done
He was just my little sweetie tiny fingers, hands and feeties
Now he’s touching, kissing, feeling all the women because
Old Spice Re-fresh sprayed a man of my son
Now he smells like a man
And they treat him like one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEbpbNTkIdk
