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"I'm on a horse." Old Spice's The Man Your Man Could Smell Like.

Arguably the hottest viral video these days is the "Manmercial" The Man Your Man Could Smell Like. In just a couple of weeks it has garnered over 2 million views - far surpassing any of the other spots on the Old Spice YouTube channel.

When I first saw this commercial I laughed, sheepishly, and did not proclaim my love for it on twitter as I feared that, once again, I would have to surrender my feminist card. But when I saw media critic Harry Allen call the ad's star, Isaiah Mustafa, "luscious man meat" I could resist no longer.

I've been happy to find out that I am not alone in my love for the self-aware humor and sexy-funny of the star. Nordette Adams noticed, too.

I caught it on DVR as I was fast-forwarding. Of course, this brother's body is what caught my eye as it whizzed by, but I also saw his facial expressions and thought, "Hey, wait! He's got to be saying something funny." So, I rewound and yes, he was saying some pretty funny stuff, "Look at your man, now back to me," and so forth. This commercials plays on one of the oldest gender stereotpyes, macho man masculinity. Go, Village People!

Erin Kotecki Vest, AKA @QueenofSpain twittered and facebooked her love.

In addition to being hilarious, the Old Spice ad succeeds where other commercials for male body washes fail - not only do men see themselves in the ad but it speaks directly to women. Win-Win. Take for example Gillette's "Wash like a man, feel like a man" and Dove's Men+Care "The Journey to Comfort." Both try to take on manly-man stereotypes with humor but don't quite get the pitch right and fail to hook viewers (Though, Dove's behind the scenes shower ad with Super Bowl MVP Drew Brees is a bit better).

Part of the reason for the success of the Old Spice ad versus its competitors is because of Isaiah Mustafa's approach. Christie D'Zurilla at the Los Angeles Times' Ministry of Gossip blog interviewed Mustafa and got the scoop on how he came up with his "smell like a man, man" persona:

The Old Spice body wash audition was like any other except ...

... the night before, he called a college buddy, quarterback Jake Plummer, most recently of the NFL's Denver Broncos, to shoot the breeze. Jake wasn't home, but Jake's answering machine was -- so Isaiah, schooled in improvisation, did an over-the-top mini performance of the script he had in hand.

It was over the top in a way that wound up striking the fancy of the public, as it caught the wave of uber ad-awareness that follows Super Bowl Sunday. Playing in theaters while couples hit "Valentine's Day" and "Avatar" last weekend hasn't hurt either.

The other things that make this commercial so funny and compelling are the dialog ("two tickets to that thing you love") and the seamless single shot take. The story of making the commercial is fascinating. Tech guru Leo Laporte interviewed the creative minds behind the spot who reveal the magic of how it was done.

And, as if it couldn't get any better, comes word that Isaiah Mustafa will be guesting on an upcoming episode of Castle. I guarantee you I will be glued to my set to see the Old Spice Man and Firefly's Nathan Fillion together. I predict that they will have an awesome chemistry not seen since the days of Joey Buchanan and Dorian Lord (3:30 in) from One Life To Live. Hollywood, here's a tip: I will pay money to see these two in a buddy flick.

Do you love the commercial? Hate it? Looking at your man and now back to the Old Spice man?

(ps - if you are not a Vox member you can comment on my blog PopConsumer)

More Old Spice Love:

Liz Shannon Miller at New TeeVee: The Viral Genius of Wieden+Kennedy's New Old Spice Campaign

Latoya Peterson at Jezebel: Sexy - And He's On A Horse! The Guy From The Old Spice Commercial

Andrea Grimes at Heartless Doll: Ads gone awesome: Look again. I'm on a horse.

The commercial is also treating constructed gender stereotypes for both men and women with silliness--I mean, diamonds! And he's on a boat! And he's on a horse! Instead of valorizing some kind of wanky, false male ideal (see the Dockers Man-ifesto), Old Spice is closer to sending up the entire genre of gender-based marketing as a whole.

Music Monday: Two Covers

Check it:

Bruce Springsteen's "Drive All Night" by The Frames/The Swell Season (you might remember singer Glen Hansard from the film Once or possibly even The Commitments)

And Wilco's "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart" by JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound

Heavy Rotation: The Heavy - How You Like Me Now?

I happened to catch British band The Heavy on Letterman the other night and they were so hot, Letterman asked them to play an encore. I don't recall ever seeing that in ever. Now they are rocketing up my most-played playlist.

The Heavy

Part of my insta-love might come from a shared or very similar sample from my last heard-on-TV favorite, Beggin' by Madcon. Do you hear it? Better yet do you know what they are sampling?

Items of Note: Punks Just Wanna Make Noise and I Love Springsteen!!!

My two favorite music related topics to blog! :-)

First, an interesting article about the emergence of Muslim and Hindu punk bands coming up in America.

Second, a note written by the late Joe Strummer of The Clash expressing his love and admiration for Bruce Springsteen. Two of my favorites in one handwritten mash note. Really, what could be more awesome?

Click on the link to see a photo of the actual note. Though it is quite legible, Letters of Note has a transcript for ease of reading.

Jimmy Fallon as Neil Young Singing Theme from Fresh Prince

Via Elizabeth at Table for Five (http://table4five.net/2009/12/15/jimmy-fallon-as-neil-young-singing-the-fresh-prince-theme-song/)

Springsteen: At Least I Have My Memories

Bruce Springsteen just wrapped up his latest tour in support of Working On A Dream. Sadly WOAD is my least favorite Springsteen album. I was so disappointed by my one listening of it, I haven't been able to bring myself to listen to it again.

Nevertheless I am much more disappointed that my cash flow has been such that I was unable to see any of the shows on this tour. He started here in the bay area, kicking the tour off in San Jose. He finished one leg in his homeland of New Jersey including a date on my birthday. At recent shows he has been playing complete albums (a somewhat controversial trend [Devo performed two such shows recently here in the bay area] as some view it as cheap and lazy but I think would be fun to see) and at Madison Square Garden on November 8 he and the E Street Band played the double album of The River (aff), all 20 songs for a couple of hours, straight through (plus more, of course - this is Bruce we're talking about!).

I could weep. My first Springsteen concert was on The River Tour. I was casual teen fan at the time. I had a picture of him in my locker because I thought he was cute as much if not more than for loving his music. But I won tickets in the mail lottery and so I went. The raw, dark power of Point Blank was the precise moment I was transformed into a hardcore tramp. I've since seen him a few dozen times since then and I am constantly amazed by the power and the energy he and the band maintain. He could relax on his laurels, turn his shows to oldies revues but he continues to create and entertain and serve his audience.

Point Blank

But there is reality. Bruce just turned 60. The Big Man, Clarence Clemons, has had both knees replaced. Keyboard player Danny Federici and other members of Springsteen's team (family, really) have passed away. Bruce is not quitting, not saying farewell but the reality is that this train cannot roll on forever. He has said that performing The River in its entirety was a one-time-only thing as it's too long to repeat. Apparently the final stop of the WOAD tour in Buffalo was legendary and awesome (I'm certain Barney Stinson would agree with Brian Williams on that). 

Though I am, in the word of Tim Gunn, woeful that I missed this tour and these specific and many other shows along the way, I do have my memories of my first show and many, many others. And I have hope that there will be more to come and that next time I will be there in the audience rocking along for however long the shows go on.

Project Runway on Lifetime

Fast Company has a profile of Lifetime CEO, Andrea Wong. You might remember her as the visionary that brought UK sensation, Strictly Come Dancing, to the U.S. and ABC in the form of Dancing With The Stars. She's smart, connects with consumers and has a great eye and intuitive sense for what attract viewers.

A couple of interesting facts in this article tell me a lot about why Project Runway feels different on Lifetime than it did on Bravo despite no major obvious changes in the format of the show. It's all about the production. It's why a wearable-by-real-women design by Shirin won and good television, obviously-should-go-home-but-totally-would-have-stayed-on-Bravo characters like too-conceptual-for-America Malvin and I-want-a-partner-who-can-carry-me Mitchell were Auf'ed.

First fact is that (I had forgotten) original producers Magical Elves have been replaced by Real World creators and spawners of much of contemporary reality television Bunim-Murray. Project Runway has always reeked of the heavy hand of producers in its decision making (along with the judges "would I wear it?" tastes). But new producers appears to equal outcomes that will better appeal to the demographics of the Lifetime audience than the Bravo audience, i.e. wearable vs. drama.

Second fact has to do with those audience demographics. I would have guessed they would be substantially different but wow, I wouldn't have guessed the differences would be this vast:

It won't be easy for Lifetime to make the Runway halo effect work. ["O]nly 4% of Lifetime viewers are cognizant of Runway," says Lifetime marketing head Bob Bibb.

I guess the subtle changes are evidence of Project Runway and Lifetime making it work. Carry on.

Bruce Springsteen London Calling Hard Rock

Bruce Springsteen London Calling Hard Rock

Good Sound!!! Bruce Springsteen opens with London Calling at Hyde Park's Hard Rock Calling,

Gospel Groove

Via The Root Buzz Korean Gospel choir gets down

Kirk Franklin must be proud!

Beverly Hills Groomer - The Return of Artist

One of my all time favorite reality show competition winners was Artist on Groomer Has It. And I happily stumbled on his return tonight. Discovery's Animal Planet knew they had a good thing in Artist and has created a new show for him called Beverly Hills Groomer following him as he charts his post win journey. It is interesting to watch him because he's someone you root for and cheer on but it's also a side of reality show competitions we rarely see.