Fans of ESPN's SportsCenter will find Terry Crews and Isaiah Mustafa behind the show's anchor desk tonight, but they're not there to talk through highlight reels.
Old Spice's resident pitchmen will battle for control of the show's desk in one final fight as their months-long rivalry campaign from Wieden + Kennedy.
A 60-second ad, "Truce," brings the campaign's narrative—Crews and Mustafa's contrasting personalities representing different Old Spice scents—to a close when it airs tonight during SportsCenter:
"After successfully launching the 'Make a Smellmitment' campaign, and stoking the fires of competition throughout the NFL season, we knew that a single spot premiere for our finale wouldn't be enough," said Kate DiCarlo, Old Spice spokeswoman.
The SportsCenter takeover is a part of a larger partnership between Old Spice and ESPN. Old Spice produced eight minutes of content featuring Crews and Mustafa for SportsCenter fans.
"This takeover is particularly exciting given the true integration between the brands," said DiCarlo. "Though rare, SportsCenter has been taken over by advertisers before, and the set has been used in very limited capacity, but this is the first time in ESPN's history that a full takeover has been customized in this way."
According to the brand, the spokesmen rivarly campaign has garnered 27 million views online.
Next for Old Spice, the brand will continue its "Make a Smellmitment" campaign through "ridiculous football inventions introduced by the NFL's top players, including Clay Matthews, Vernon Davis, Drew Brees, Andy Dalton, Antonio Brown and more on the players' social media channels and Old Spice's Tumblr page," explained DiCarlo.