I do agree with you in the sense that we aren’t expected to believe that this type of man exists, but what I worry is that on a subconscious level, men might measure up their own inadequacies against some of these type of ideals. While all the qualities the old spice guy has together may be unattainable, a lot of the qualities he has are in a way reachable goals if someone really wanted to get there.

Which is where I think the danger of the advert really lies. By making the old spice guy a more relatable person, mostly through breaking the 4th wall and mocking most masculinity in advertising, I believe it makes the qualities he has, at least in a subconscious way, feel slightly more attainable. Which in a way is worse than your general adverts, because you are aware that these people in adverts are ideals, and not true representations of people.

I agree 100% with you that this is targeted at men and women in relationships but again this asks the question of what does that mean about the relations between men and women, and how men, and also women, feel about themselves in a relationship? Yes, the advert is using humor to mock other adverts, but the underlying theme here is still ‘heres the types of behaviors women might want’. While a lot of the responses I’ve had have said they don’t feel they have the insecurities I’ve been talking about, which is great because it’s giving me a new perspective on my thoughts, I still can’t help but think that the fun thing about insecurities is that you generally don’t know you have them until someone points them out or something happens to make you realise it. I’m not saying every guy has them, from what I’ve heard now, they don’t seem to, but I think to deny the existence of any is unrealistic to humans in general.

My post is mostly just speculation and opinions, and I wanted it to be challenged to create a discussion. At the end of the day these are all outsiders views. I’m a woman, not a man, and while I’m trying to understand, I know I’ll never truly know what experiences are like from the other side of the fence.

The Ads are very tongue-in-cheek, I don’t think we are really expected to believe that this “ideal” man actually exists.

He is just one guy.

Old Spice Guy talks bout “your man”, he is promoting monogamous relationships, which is probably supposed to appeal more to stereotypical woman who is seeking commitment.

Which is clever because it targets both the sexes.

Contrast that with the typical Lynx Ad whose message is basically “any guy can have sex with any girl and all girls look like models”.

I don’t think Old Spice is on the same level as other ads which objectify women.