I am currently sitting at Marion Toyota as my oil is being changed in my car. I can still smell the aroma of my Gillette shower gel on my skin. I am reminded about how much our world has changed in the past few years. I’m not talking about the nice lobby with its leather chairs, LCD televisions broadcasting HGTV, free WIFI and coffee bar - at a car dealership; I’m talking about shower gel and men.
When my wife Julie and I first married I made one of my first compromises. I gave up the world of Irish Springs soap to enter the world of feminine shower gel. It was a pretty simple debate, Julie didn’t like the mess that soap causes as it disintegrates in the shower and I was madly in love with her and wanted to please her. I ceased using my soap bars and began using shower gel on those poufy shower things that don’t really have a name. I entered the world of jasmine and passion fruit. I was putting pink frothy moisturizing stuff on me as I watched my manhood vanish into oblivion.
Fast forward a few years. Some soap companies realized that men were becoming emasculated all around the world and haphazardly attempted to create shower gels that appealed to men. They were hidden within the droves of feminine shower gels at the supermarkets. These new man themed shower gels were in plain clear bottles, dyed blue and not very soapy. I would still buy them from time to time in a vain attempt to regain my status as a man, but I wasn’t very happy with those gels because they just didn’t do a very good job of keeping me clean. They also didn’t smell very manly – I think they just dyed the women’s shower gel blue.
To my knowledge, the first big attempt to garner men’s loyalty in the male shower gel world was made by AXE. Their commercials scared me away from their products. They were looking for an edgy approach that just looked scary. The image they created was that when a man used their products, all the women in the vicinity would suddenly turn to ravenous beasts or vampires and pursue the man. That did not sound appealing to me at all. I had no desire of turning the women around me into beasts nor did I want them to hunt me down. I am happily married don’t need women coming after me. It would probably not be beneficial to my marriage to say the least. I understand this was a marketing ploy to try to convince men that AXE would make them more appealing, but for me it was an epic fail as a marketing strategy. I stuck with my wife’s Herbal Essences instead.
A couple years ago the entire genre of men’s body wash was changed by the most unlikely of candidates. Until two years ago the words ‘Old Spice’ were synonymous with words ‘Old Men.’ I’m not sure this was written anywhere, but the motto ‘Old men wear Old Spice,’ was chanted on many occasions. The porcelain bottle with the ship on it was the symbol of retirement. It was cheap smelling cologne that no one under 70 would come close to.
The company apparently hired a wired haired genius because they suddenly created a line of products for men. They began to carry deodorant and dual purpose hair and body wash. My first response was, ‘its Old Spice, it can’t be good,’ and then the genius’ unleashed their marketing campaign. The commercial featured a fit and attractive man who essentially told men to man up and stops using “ladies’ body wash.” He told us that if we used Old Spice we could smell like him. He made body wash manly and attractive.
I could finally come out of the closet and boldly proclaim that I am a man who uses body wash. I could throw away my pink poufy thing and buy a navy blue one. I was suddenly able to be proud of using body wash. Old Spice was no longer for old men, but for manly men. It was pure genius.
Now there are a variety of men’s body wash. I think we have more choices than women and I get to smell the wonderful manly scent of my Gillette body wash instead of pomegranates and honeysuckles. From the bottom of my heart, thank you Old Spice for making me a man again.
What do you think about men’s body wash? - Tim
When my wife Julie and I first married I made one of my first compromises. I gave up the world of Irish Springs soap to enter the world of feminine shower gel. It was a pretty simple debate, Julie didn’t like the mess that soap causes as it disintegrates in the shower and I was madly in love with her and wanted to please her. I ceased using my soap bars and began using shower gel on those poufy shower things that don’t really have a name. I entered the world of jasmine and passion fruit. I was putting pink frothy moisturizing stuff on me as I watched my manhood vanish into oblivion.
Fast forward a few years. Some soap companies realized that men were becoming emasculated all around the world and haphazardly attempted to create shower gels that appealed to men. They were hidden within the droves of feminine shower gels at the supermarkets. These new man themed shower gels were in plain clear bottles, dyed blue and not very soapy. I would still buy them from time to time in a vain attempt to regain my status as a man, but I wasn’t very happy with those gels because they just didn’t do a very good job of keeping me clean. They also didn’t smell very manly – I think they just dyed the women’s shower gel blue.
To my knowledge, the first big attempt to garner men’s loyalty in the male shower gel world was made by AXE. Their commercials scared me away from their products. They were looking for an edgy approach that just looked scary. The image they created was that when a man used their products, all the women in the vicinity would suddenly turn to ravenous beasts or vampires and pursue the man. That did not sound appealing to me at all. I had no desire of turning the women around me into beasts nor did I want them to hunt me down. I am happily married don’t need women coming after me. It would probably not be beneficial to my marriage to say the least. I understand this was a marketing ploy to try to convince men that AXE would make them more appealing, but for me it was an epic fail as a marketing strategy. I stuck with my wife’s Herbal Essences instead.
A couple years ago the entire genre of men’s body wash was changed by the most unlikely of candidates. Until two years ago the words ‘Old Spice’ were synonymous with words ‘Old Men.’ I’m not sure this was written anywhere, but the motto ‘Old men wear Old Spice,’ was chanted on many occasions. The porcelain bottle with the ship on it was the symbol of retirement. It was cheap smelling cologne that no one under 70 would come close to.
The company apparently hired a wired haired genius because they suddenly created a line of products for men. They began to carry deodorant and dual purpose hair and body wash. My first response was, ‘its Old Spice, it can’t be good,’ and then the genius’ unleashed their marketing campaign. The commercial featured a fit and attractive man who essentially told men to man up and stops using “ladies’ body wash.” He told us that if we used Old Spice we could smell like him. He made body wash manly and attractive.
I could finally come out of the closet and boldly proclaim that I am a man who uses body wash. I could throw away my pink poufy thing and buy a navy blue one. I was suddenly able to be proud of using body wash. Old Spice was no longer for old men, but for manly men. It was pure genius.
Now there are a variety of men’s body wash. I think we have more choices than women and I get to smell the wonderful manly scent of my Gillette body wash instead of pomegranates and honeysuckles. From the bottom of my heart, thank you Old Spice for making me a man again.
What do you think about men’s body wash? - Tim
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