A brand reading
Old Spice.
Jester Absurdity as confidence.
The 2010 Isaiah Mustafa campaign by Wieden+Kennedy turned a stale men’s grooming brand into a national in-joke. The Jester’s move: be funnier than the category permits, and the category will let you in.
The reading.
Jester with an Outlaw counterweight, expressed.
- Character
- Jester
- Drive
- Delight, gaiety, fun, assurance, togetherness.
- Fear
- Boredom, gloom, sadness, loneliness, bleakness.
- Strategy
- Help people have a good time, and be more impulsive and spontaneous.
- Counterweight
- Outlaw
- Opportunity
- Men’s grooming was earnest. The absurdist lane was wide open.
- Diagnostic
- Expressed
The Jester as confidence. Old Spice became funnier than men’s grooming was allowed to be, and the category let it back in. The Outlaw counterweight is the refusal to take the aisle seriously.
Famous spot
The Man Your Man Could Smell Like, 2010