Ads We Like: Old Spice and W+K Brazil break Guinness record with an ‘Endless Commercial’
Old Spice ads are endearingly strange, but the latest effort by Wieden+Kennedy São Paulo in Brazil and Old Spice is as odd as it is long. In fact, it’s endless, which has earned the ad a Gunness World Record.
The brand and agency have created the first endless spot in history – one commercial, inside another and another, that turns into an endless ad. According to Old Spice, the video will be on air for eternity at ocomercialinfinito.com.br (if you dare).
The film, promoting Old Spice’s Durascent technology, was aired for 14 hours on the Woohoo channel, becoming the longest continuous campaign in television history. The record granted the client and the agency entry into the Guinness Book. The reason for the never-ending length was to drive home the point that the “commercial lasts as long as the new Old Spice amazing fragrance. Watch responsibly,” says a warning label from the ‘Institute of Manly Fragrance’ at the beginning of the film.
The ad, titled ‘O Filme Infinito (Endless Commercial)’ features the participation of actor and brand ambassador Terry Crews, along with aliens, historic figures, bar patrons and various other characters. In a shortened version, a series of quick cuts. It starts with a man in the bathroom spraying the scent on him, with the VO and tag of “Smell amazing forever with the new Old Spice.” Pan out to a couple of guys on a couch watching the ad who then turn to the camera and become pitchmen themselves. Cut to a man in a bar with a can of the scent, saying that it saved his marriage. Cut to a guy laughing at that ad at home. Cut to two aliens in a ship watching that commercial and laughing. Cut to two Renaissance artists in a mountain field with a cow, with a painting of the alien ship and a can of Old Spice. Cut to Terry Crews getting the scent sprayed on him by mini-Terry Crews. Cut to…you get the picture. The quick ads then repeat themselves, but mash different characters into each scene until it becomes wonderfully, dizzyingly confusing.
In addition to the complete film, six drops were produced to support on digital channels and TV. A nearly four-minute version with subtitles and an English voice over, plus a short video explaining the ad, were also made. The campaign will be exported and replicated throughout Latin America and Mexico.
"The idea for the whole project came from the new technology of Old Spice, Durascent, that makes you smell good forever," said Vitor Fernandes, marketing manager for deodorants, Old Spice.
"At a time when advertising content is getting shorter, with increasingly telegraphic messages, Old Spice goes against the grain and launches a commercial that literally lasts forever. A pleasure to work with brands that are always willing to break the rules," stated Renato Simões, executive creative director, Wieden+Kennedy São Paulo.
