Why Old Spice Still Works: The Brand That Refused to Die

Old Spice shouldn't still be relevant. By all logic, it should have faded away decades ago.

Think about it: a brand launched in 1938, associated with your grandfather's bathroom cabinet, stuck with a nautical theme that made no sense, competing against dozens of newer, cooler, more modern men's grooming brands.

It should be dead. Instead, it's thriving.

Old Spice remains one of the top-selling men's deodorant and body wash brands in America. Walk into any drugstore and it dominates entire shelves. Young guys who weren't even born when their grandfathers used Old Spice are buying it now.

How did a nearly century-old brand pull this off?

The Near-Death Experience

Let's be clear: Old Spice almost did die.

By the early 2000s, the brand was in trouble. Sales were declining. The customer base was literally dying off aging men who'd been loyal for decades but weren't being replaced by younger buyers.

The brand meant "old" in the worst way. It was what your dad used, what retirement homes smelled like. Young men wanted Axe body spray with its aggressive, sex-focused marketing. They wanted modern brands that spoke to them, not their grandfathers.

Old Spice was a punchline. It represented everything outdated about masculinity stuffy, traditional, out of touch.

The brand needed to completely reinvent itself or accept slow extinction.

The Campaign That Changed Everything

In 2010, Old Spice launched "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like" campaign.

You remember it. Isaiah Mustafa, shirtless, addressing women directly while absurd things happened around him. "Hello, ladies. Look at your man. Now back to me. Now back at your man. Now back to me."

It was weird. It was funny. It was fast-paced and surreal. It went massively viral before "going viral" was the default goal of every ad campaign.

More importantly, it was smart. The ads targeted women the people who actually buy grooming products for men while simultaneously being entertaining enough that men wanted to watch and share them.

Old Spice went from irrelevant to the most talked-about brand in advertising almost overnight. Sales jumped dramatically. Young men who'd never considered Old Spice suddenly wanted it.

But here's the thing: great advertising campaigns fade. Remember all those Axe commercials? They were huge once, and now nobody talks about them.

Old Spice didn't just have a great campaign. They fundamentally understood something deeper about branding.

They Embraced the Absurd

What Old Spice figured out is that modern masculinity is complicated and kind of ridiculous.

Traditional masculine advertising was always serious rugged men doing manly things, very straightforward messaging about strength and sex appeal. It was boring and increasingly felt dated.

Old Spice went the opposite direction. Their ads are intentionally absurd. Men riding bears. Muscles on top of muscles. Ridiculous scenarios presented with complete confidence.

They're not mocking masculinity exactly, but they're definitely winking at it. They're saying: yeah, masculine advertising is over-the-top and silly. Let's just lean into that and have fun with it.

This approach resonated because it felt honest. Young men don't want to be lectured about what masculinity means. They're fine with products that help them smell good without taking themselves too seriously.

The Product Actually Works

Here's something that gets overlooked in discussions about Old Spice's marketing success: the products are good.

They reformulated. They created new scents beyond the classic Old Spice smell that grandpa wore. They developed body washes, high-endurance deodorants, different product lines for different needs.

The quality is solid. The scents are pleasant without being overwhelming. The products do what they're supposed to do at a reasonable price point.

All the clever marketing in the world doesn't matter if the product disappoints. Old Spice delivers consistently, which creates repeat purchases and word-of-mouth recommendations.

They Kept Evolving

Old Spice didn't rest on the success of one viral campaign. They kept going.

Terry Crews screaming about power. More absurdist humor. Collaborations with NFL players. Constant social media engagement with genuinely funny responses to customers.

They stayed weird and playful while continuing to update their product lines and packaging. They kept the energy that made them relevant without becoming repetitive or stale.

Many brands have one successful reinvention and then coast on that until it stops working. Old Spice treats reinvention as ongoing.

The Price Point Matters

Let's talk about something practical: Old Spice is affordable.

You can buy Old Spice deodorant for four or five dollars. Body wash for six or seven dollars. It's widely available at drugstores, supermarkets, gas stations.

Compare that to boutique men's grooming brands charging fifteen or twenty dollars for deodorant. Those brands position themselves as premium, sophisticated, discerning.

Old Spice positions itself as accessible and unpretentious. You don't need to be a certain type of guy or have a certain income level to use Old Spice. It's for everyone.

In an era where so many products have become luxury items or status symbols, there's something refreshing about a brand that's just good, affordable, and widely available.

They Own Their History

Here's a counterintuitive move: Old Spice doesn't run away from being old.

They could have rebranded completely, dropped the nautical imagery, changed the name. Instead, they kept all of it and made it part of the joke.

The sailing ship logo is still there. The name explicitly includes "Old." The classic scent is still available.

But instead of pretending to be a young, hip startup brand, they own their legacy while making it clear they're not stuck in the past.

It's confident. It says: we've been around forever because we're good, not because we're outdated. There's a difference.

The Scent Variety

Walk down the Old Spice aisle and you'll see dozens of options. Bearglove. Fiji. Timber. Swagger. Wolfthorn. Captain. Pure Sport.

The names are ridiculous. The variety is real.

This matters because scent is personal. What smells good on one person might not work on another. What one guy finds appealing, another might hate.

By offering extensive variety, Old Spice lets customers find what works for them. You're not stuck with one option that may or may not suit you.

And let's be honest: the absurd names are part of the appeal. "Bearglove" is a meaningless word, but it's memorable and funny. It fits the brand's personality.

They Understood Their Actual Competition

When Old Spice reinvented itself, they weren't really competing with other deodorant brands. They were competing for attention.

The real threat wasn't Degree or Right Guard. It was indifference. It was young men not caring about grooming products enough to have brand loyalty.

Old Spice made themselves entertaining enough that people wanted to engage with the brand. The product became secondary to the experience of the brand itself.

Once they had attention, converting that into sales was easier. But getting attention in the first place that was the real challenge, and they nailed it.

The Social Media Game

Old Spice's social media presence is genuinely funny and responsive. They reply to customers with the same absurdist humor as their ads. They create memes. They stay culturally relevant.

This isn't just having a social media account and posting occasionally. It's active engagement that extends the brand personality beyond advertising.

Younger consumers expect brands to have personalities and be responsive. Old Spice delivers on that consistently.

It's Not Trying Too Hard

Here's something subtle but important: Old Spice's confidence feels effortless.

Many brands trying to appeal to young men come across as desperate trying too hard to be cool, to use the right slang, to seem relevant. It's cringey.

Old Spice is weird and confident without seeming like it's chasing trends. The humor comes from a clear point of view rather than trying to guess what will go viral.

That authenticity even when being absurdmakes a difference. People can tell when brands are genuine versus when they're just following a formula.

The Nostalgia Factor

There's also something interesting happening with nostalgia. Guys in their twenties and thirties remember their dads or grandfathers using Old Spice.

The brand reinvented itself enough to not feel outdated, but it kept enough familiarity that there's a nostalgic comfort to it.

Using Old Spice can feel like a subtle connection to previous generations without feeling old-fashioned. That's a difficult balance, and they've managed it.

What Other Brands Can Learn

Old Spice's success offers lessons that go beyond men's grooming.

Heritage brands can reinvent without abandoning their identity. Humor works when it's confident and consistent. Affordable doesn't mean low-quality or undesirable. Social media engagement requires personality, not just presence. Product quality ultimately matters more than marketing.

Most importantly: stay relevant by evolving, not by chasing every trend desperately.

The Bottom Line

Old Spice is still one of the best men's grooming brands because they did something remarkable they became cool without trying to convince you they're cool.

They're funny without being obnoxious. They're affordable without being cheap. They're everywhere without being boring. They're old without being outdated.

The products work. The branding is memorable. The price is right. The availability is universal.

Could a newer brand replicate this? Probably not. Part of Old Spice's appeal is that they've been around forever and managed to stay relevant anyway. That's not something you can manufacture from scratch.

They took a brand that should have died and turned it into something that feels both timeless and current. That's genuinely impressive.

So yeah, your grandfather used Old Spice. And so might you. And somehow, that's not weird anymore.

It's just good branding. The kind that makes an 86-year-old brand feel like it was launched yesterday.

The kind that takes a sailing ship logo from 1938 and makes it work in 2025.

That's not luck. That's understanding exactly what you are and having the confidence to be it, loudly and absurdly.

And apparently, that still works.