Our digital and TV executions recreated the cinematic tropes of guys’ favorite movie heroes who exude a confidence that any guy would want. The Swagger man embodied a cool, James Bond type character, and our Desperado guy embodies the western, Clint Eastwood type of rebel.

To help support these cinematic ads, we found our solution in something old: collectible wax packs. Since these commercials featured such interesting, cinematic characters, a series of collectible cards modeled after the popular wax packs of 1980s-1990s seemed fitting. The illustrations and packages were hand-crafted, and the cards included funny puzzles and gum-like scent sticks that we really hoped people wouldn't eat. We distributed the packs to anyone who solved our online Instagram wax pack puzzles. How interactive! They were also distributed to lucky patrons at the gaming conference Twitch-Con, as well as to the award judges at Cannes.

With the collectible wax packs, we wanted to create a unique, interactive experience that would reward our fans’ curiosity and tireless time-wasting abilities.

This started with the wrapper image we posted on the Old Spice Instagram account. Next, through a series of unique accounts tagged in the hero images, fans could explore the packs of cards as if they were real - complete with stickers, activities, and a jumbled puzzle on the card backs. We rewarded those who solved the puzzle with an actual wax pack, which included collectible cards, a sticker, and a smell stick, proving once and for all that going down a rabbit hole of clickbait isn't without its occasional rewards.

The collectible wax packs included 11 collectible cards with classic scenes from the #1 hit ads! And an illustrated die-cut sticker, an activity card, and a scented gum-like smell stick that we hoped people wouldn't eat.

Through paid support, we reached a total of 11.4MM unique users with 28.4MM total paid and earned impressions. Guys tenaciously dug through one branded Instagram account to another in a quest to put the puzzle pieces together and prove their worthiness as Desperado’s.