The video: Following the success of a quirky viral ad campaign featuring actor Isaiah Mustafa, Old Spice has crowned a new strapping spokesman: Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis. In this latest off-the-wall commercial by ad house Wieden + Kennedy (watch below), a lathered-up Lewis explains that he doesn't "play fantasy football." He plays "for-real football," which takes "hard work, a pinch of luck, body muscles, some salt," and, of course, Old Spice "Swagger" body wash. The football star then climbs aboard a rocket-powered raven, flies off into space, and blows up Saturn with a giant laser.
The reaction: Ray Lewis' "powers of seduction don't quite measure up to Mustafa's", says Katla McGlynn in the Huffington Post. But "seeing him saddle up a jet-powered raven and blast off to Saturn is pretty impressive." Yes, although Lewis shouldn't get the credit for that, says Tim Nudd at Adweek. The real star of this ad is the "robotic, jet-powered, laser-blasting space raven." That bird is "fairly epic." Watch the Ray Lewis ad below:
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Corbynism returns: a new party on the LeftTalking Point Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana's breakaway progressive party has already got off to a shaky start
-
Oasis reunited: definitely maybe a triumphTalking Point The reunion of a band with 'the power of Led Zeppelin' and 'the swagger of the Rolling Stones'
-
Crossword: July 12, 2025The Week's daily crossword puzzle
