'Old Spice Guy' takes pitch to YouTube, Twitter

'Old Spice Guy' fan? Get ye to a social network. If you're lucky, Isiah Mustafa might make a YouTube video just for you.

Old Spice Guy Isiah Mustafa answers a user question on YouTube.

YouTube

July 14, 2010

Well, that's one way to drum up sales for your male grooming products. This month Old Spice is expanding the marketing campaign around its ever popular Old Spice Guy – yeah, that guy – to include an interactive YouTube and Twitter Q and A.

Here's the gist: Users log on to Twitter, Facebook, or Reddit and send a question or a comment to one of the official Old Spice feeds. If the Old Spice folks like your submission, they'll upload a video response to YouTube, starring the Old Spice Guy, also known as Isiah Mustafa – a former wide receiver for the Seattle Seahawks.

Thus far, the campaign appears to be a success. A quick search on YouTube turned up dozens of videos, many of which have been viewed tens of thousands of times. Some of the funniest videos are answers to questions from quasi-celebrities, including Perez Hilton, Alyssa Milano, Justine Bateman, and the Olympic skater Apolo Ohno. The actress Rose McGowan, for instance, recently tweeted that she was enjoying the videos.

To which the Old Spice Guy replied with a lengthy speech on McGowan's film work. "Well hello Rose McGowan," he intoned. "I like your videos too. And when I say videos I mean major motion pictures and popular TV shows. So in a way, we both have videos. And in a way, we are both attractive movie stars who just got married in my brain."

Of course, the Old Spice Guy isn't just chatting with famous people. He's also answering questions from regular old readers, such as "Adam," who wondered if the Old Spice Guy would adopt him.

"I'm not allowed to adopt fully grown men due to some law about that being weird and entirely creepy and weird," the pitchman answered. "But if you are, by chance, an unborn or baby infant child then yes, I will adopt you unborn and/or baby infant child. Please send along the official paper pieces to my home address: 528 Bottom of the Ocean, next to the giant rock, number 1B, Mount Olympus, Earth, 93981."