Dive Brief:

• Old Spice and Arby's have collaborated to promote the P&G brand's Sweat Defense Dry Spray and the restaurant chain's Half Pound Roast Beef Sandwich on a campaign around preventing the "meat sweats," per a press release shared with Marketing Dive.
• A 30-second spot narrated by the voice of Arby's, Ving Rhames, features "Old Spice Guy" Isaiah Mustafa scaling the sandwich as if it's a mountain face before falling on a packet of the chain's Horsey sauce. The spot was produced by Wieden+Kennedy and Fallon and will be available on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
• As part of the effort, consumers can purchase a Meat Sweat Defense kit, which includes a roast beef-patterned sweatsuit, co-branded towel and sweatband, and two cans of the Old Spice antiperspirant, for $60 at ArbyShop.com. The effort attempts to insert both brands into pop culture with a humorous mash-up and merchandise play.

Dive Insight:

Old Spice and Arby's have teamed up to tackle the "meat sweats," wherein diners perspire profusely after eating a meat-heavy meal. The phenomenon has cropped up in pop culture in various places, including an episode of "Friends" and coverage of competitive eating, and provides perfect synergy for Arby's huge, half-pound sandwich and Old Spice's dry spray antiperspirant.

“A collaboration between Old Spice and Arby’s makes all the sense in the world to hilariously solve the age-old problem of the notorious meat sweats that we’ve all faced at some point in our lives," said Matt Krehbiel, Old Spice vice president at Procter & Gamble, in the press release.

The collaborative ad, produced by Wieden+Kennedy and Fallon, uses standards of both brands' campaigns, including a voiceover by Ving Rhames and an appearance by the Old Spice Guy mascot. The humorous ad is true to both brands' voices and could draw attention across social media.

In addition to the spot, the campaign features a Meat Sweat Defense kit that will be available via Arby's e-commerce site. The roast beef-patterned sweat suit and co-branded towel and sweatband follow the long-running trend of CPG and QSR brands releasing unusual branded merchandise in a play to become lifestyle brands. Along with being a small play for revenue, the e-commerce site could provide the brands with valuable first-party data about consumers.

QSR and CPG brands have increasingly made being a part of consumer culture a top priority. As part of its launch of a fish sandwich offering, Arby's this year tapped rapper Pusha T to record a diss track aimed at McDonald's and the Filet-O-Fish. Previously, the restaurant released limited-run vodka flavors inspired by its fries to generate social media buzz.

In addition to the Arby's partnership, Old Spice is teaming with Marvel to create "Thor" content featuring Luke Hemsworth — brother of "Thor" star Chris Hemsworth — who will reprise a small role he played in "Thor: Ragnarok" in this summer's "Thor: Love and Thunder." The first of two official spots will launch on June 30, per details from the brand. Previously, P&G has used the Old Spice brand as a testing ground for new content and cultural plays, from a barbershop-content studio to spots that used deep-fake technology to parody '80s action movies.