Old Spice’s first-ever mascot, Swaggy Spice, will sweat his way through the Super Bowl

W+K Portland’s ‘Smelf-Confidence’ campaign also includes a pair of musical spots

Published On
Feb 06, 2023
Old Spice's new mascot, Swaggy Spice

Editor's Pick

Sports mascots can sweat up to 10 pounds per game, which helps explain why Old Spice is introducing a mascot of its own, Swaggy Spice, who is planning to pressure-test the brand’s odor/sweat protection capabilities in the most high-intensity sporting event of all—the Super Bowl.

The mascot, a first for Old Spice, is part of a new “Smelf-Confidence” campaign from Wieden+Kennedy Portland that also includes a pair of musical ads (in which Swaggy has a role as a backup dancer). The first ad, titled “Soliloquy” is below. 

 
 

Swaggy’s exact role at the Super Bowl is unclear. The Procter & Gamble brand is not a Super Bowl advertiser, so we’d expect his antics next weekend to be largely rogue.

Old Spice does have a long history of launching campaigns right around Super Bowl, to draft off consumers’ generally heightened interest in ads in the days leading up. (Its most famous ad ever, “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like,” is routinely included in roundups of best Super Bowl ads ever, even though it didn’t air on the game—it simply broke the same weekend in 2010.)

The second ad, “Tango,” will air in the spring.