Old Spice was introduced in 1937 under the name of Early American Old Spice. It was manufactured by Shulton Inc., soap and toiletries company owned by William Lightfoot Schultz.
You may be surprised to find out that the first product of the “manly” brand was originally aimed at women. However, just before Christmas in 1937 (according to other sources, in 1938), the company also introduced the product for men, which became its main product.
The Old Spice logo has always alluded to the nautical theme. In fact, William Schultz chose the colonial framework not only for the advertising but also for his products. Why?
As you probably know, the products have spicy notes. Centuries ago, spices were very expensive and could only be afforded by the rich. That was because they were brought by ships that sailed to distant exotic places. So, the colonial nautical theme, which followed from the spicy scent of the product, became an important trademark associated with Old Spice.
We can also add another reason why a ship worked great as a symbol of a “manly” product. You could hardly imagine a woman as a sailor. The work required great strength and courage and also involved huge risk. All these were associated with traditionally male qualities.
In the course of time, though, the company decided to drop the colonial nautical theme and replace the ship by a yacht. The blue yacht emblem was used on the buoy-shaped ivory bottle in the 1970s through the 1990s. The popular TV ad that played through the 1980s-90s featured a lone surfer riding the waves.
Later, a new era started for the product. Procter & Gamble, which was the owner of the brand, was trying to aim primarily at first-time deodorant users, mostly teenagers. The redesign and repositioning were carried out by Landor. The firm worked in collaboration with agencies Wieden+Kennedy and Citizen Relations. The brand eventually returned to the original choice, the nautical colonial ship.
According to the official website, the ships that were used as the prototypes for the packaging design were originally the Grand Turk and the Friendship. Also, among the ships that have inspired the Old Spice emblem at different periods of time have been the Wesley, Salem, Birmingham, and Hamilton.
The laid-back script imitates handwriting.
The current Old Spice logo is dark red over the white background. It can also be given in other color schemes, depending on the label of the product. Earlier, a blue yacht logo was used.