The golden age of piracy has provided fodder for many films and TV shows. But most ignore an unpalatable truth: pirates stunk.

This ‘Old Spice story’ plays up the fact as much as a visual medium can – highlighting the smelly feet, odious pits and bad breath of an accursed crew. A parrot repeats the word “stinky”, in case it wasn’t clear enough.

But what’s this? One buccaneer is suspiciously sweet-smelling – to the point his shipmates make him walk the plank, despite the discovery of his stash of Old Spice. But it could be worse: a gorgeous mermaid is impressed, and he gets to deliver a classic Old Spice advertising line, with a maritime twist.

It’s good, silly fun. The only downside is that – perhaps appropriately for an ad designed to highlight how ‘unbelievably long-lasting’ the scent lasts, the full 96-second ad rather labours to get to the point. Take a cutlass to it!

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