In its latest move to shed its image as a '70s relic, Old Spice has hired a '70s relic as its spokesman: the Afro-ed, headband-sporting basketball player Jackie Moon. Old Spice hopes Moon, a Will Ferrell character starring in the upcoming Semi-Pro, will attract the coveted young male demographic with humor, the LA Times reports.
The Moon tie-in builds on a recent trend in advertising to young men, the Times says: self-mocking tongue-in-cheek masculinity. A recent Dos Equis beer ad, for example, features the swashbuckling "most interesting man in the world." And the sweaty Semi-Pro star makes a natural fit for Old Spice Pro-Strength, a deodorant for heavy perspirers. (More advertising stories.)