New media, Old Spice

Previously thought of as a Father Day's gift from the 1970s, P&G's Old Spice lit up YouTube and Twitter in spectacular fashion this week. The chronically narcissistic 'Old Spice Man' has been around since this year's Super Bowl but it was the scent of social media that truly gained him viral attention this week.

The campaign delighted and drew widespread praise from social media observers. The blog Outspoken Media explained how it covered the tenets of remarkable social media (which did not even include the unexpected personal reply they received from the man himself). Mashable called it 'The Archetype of a Successful Social Media Campaign'. The multi generational appeal was confirmed by the millennial blog Ypulse.

P&G undoubtedly spent some money on the campaign but many social marketing bloggers were attracted to the fact that it could be replicated by anyone with a video camera and a telegenic performer. ReadWriteWeb provided the logistical details of the program.

Confirmations of viral success quickly emerged. Reddit quickly had a voicemail generator up and running. Meanwhile, boingboing found a decidedly softer competitor, offering himself up as a duvet, not a brick.