Turn back the clock to 1976. America was celebrating its Bicentennial. Jimmy Carter was elected President. And Pete Rose was the All-Star third baseman for the World Champion Cincinnati Reds. Baseball’s all-time hits leader was a popular pitchman in the 1970s and 80s, endorsing such brands as Kool-Aid, Hungry Man, Grecian Formula, and Aqua Velva, among others. Back then “Charlie Hustle” had a squeaky-clean reputation and he was highly marketable to American consumers. Times have certainly changed. This week’s Throwback Thursday revisits a classic Pete Rose TV commercial from 1976: “Aqua Velva Man”.
“Aqua Velva Man” features Pete Rose showing off his singing skills in an all-male quartet inside a Major League baseball stadium. Through its light-hearted musical approach, the ad reminds viewers what a man really wants in an aftershave. Fancy perfumes, fancy bottles, and fancy prices? Don’t even think about it. A man wants to feel like a man! This creative strategy comes through loud and clear in the Ad Personality Profile. As shown below, “Aqua Velva Man” knocked the cover off the ball with its Breakthrough and Watchability relative performance, while Product Passion and Communication lagged.
Ad Personality Profile
The ad achieved an Ace Score of 472, which is 12% below the Shaving category norm of 537. Not surprisingly, “Aqua Velva Man” scored higher among males (510) than among females (439). By age group, respondents in the 36-49 year-old demographic scored the ad the highest: 494, some 71 points higher than those in the 16-20 year-old category.
The Pete Rose effect
Pete Rose in his heyday is very different from Pete Rose today. The once-beloved star of the Big Red Machine was banned permanently from baseball in 1989 by then-Commissioner Bart Giamatti due to evidence that Rose bet on baseball games while managing the Cincinnati Reds. To this day, Pete Rose is ineligible for election to baseball’s Hall of Fame, and is forbidden from employment or other professional involvement with Major League Baseball or its minor league affiliates. More than a quarter of a century after Giamatti imposed that lifetime ban, Pete Rose’s reputation still bears the marks of that controversy, but the open-ended responses in our survey suggest that time may be healing some of those wounds. Among 346 open-ended verbatims, 15 respondents mentioned Pete Rose by name.
Data from the “Best Thing about This Ad” question also underscore the notion that Pete Rose’s reputation isn’t as sullied as it once was. The consensus among 500 respondents is that the Characters are the best thing about “Aqua Velva Man” (28%). Pete is one of four main characters in the ad, but he’s certainly the most prominent. Also popular is the Music, chosen by 14% of respondents.
What Is the Single Best Thing about This Ad?
Love him or hate him, we’ll likely be seeing more of Pete Rose in the future. Skechers signed Rose to an endorsement deal in 2014, which included a Super Bowl spot (“The Hall”) that aired earlier this year. In addition, Fox Sports announced last week that they’ve hired Rose as a new MLB analyst. He’s expected to appear in-studio during Fox and Fox Sports 1 TV broadcasts later this season.
Some ads do stand the test of time. If you have an ad that you’d like to test against today’s consumers and compare against today’s ads, give us a call!
