Old Spice Red Zone gets a New Scent: Desperado

Before there were multi-step man skincare lines, shelves full of waxes and pomades, and an endless array of shaving implements, there was Old Spice. There is a good chance your grandfather or father or both had one of the iconic cream colored bottles in his medicine cabinet. If it feels like its been around for forever, it’s because it sort of has, or at least for the last eight decades.

But the new iteration of Old Spice isn’t your father’s after-shave. Of course, the brand is still catering to hyper-masculinity as evidenced by the manly men who star in its wacky ads, like Isaiah Mustafa or Terry Crews, but they’ve branched out with an expanded line that goes beyond antiperspirant and a wider variety scents.

The latest range of deodorants, body washes and shampoos within the Old Spice Red Zone Collection is Desperado, a scent that’s meant to summon up the ultimate devil-may-care dude. Apparently, this risk-taking attitude translates to a blend of lemon juice, greenery and firewood.

And embodying the man who could care less about consequences is Mexican actor and model, Alberto Cardenas. And how do you demonstrate the new scent’s ability to inspire this kind of overconfidence? In a two-part ad campaign that features our hero Cardenas engaged in an old-timey standoff with a bandido in an old Mexican town (actually shot at John Wayne’s former spread in Durango, Mexico), of course. Cardenas defeats the (presumably malodorous) villain and wins over the people with his badassery, good looks and delightful odor before riding off into the sunset on a mythical horse/bathtub hybrid. As you do. Though you probably shouldn’t try this at home, even while wearing Old Spice.