Dolph Lungdren Gets His Sweat on in Deepfake Spot for Old Spice

Conjured up by the fantastic creatives at Weiden+Kennedy, ‘Hang On’ for Old Spice was designed with a very certain and singular vision. 

A vision that, considering its ambition, needed the perfect director to helm the project and the perfect editor to put it together; enter long-standing collaborators Andreas Nilsson (for Biscuit Filmworks) and Ben Campbell (The Quarry).

The spot’s successful execution was dependant on several elements: the use of state of the art deep-fake technology, an authentic and acute depiction of over-the-top 80s action cinema, and  - most importantly - the approval of Dolph himself.

The campaign ventures into, as W+K rep puts it, "... uncharted territority." Deepfake technology has been mainly limited to a portrayal of a celebrity looking straight into the camera; in 'Hang On', Dolf Lundgren's face is deepfaked into an extremely busy scene between two actors, charged with drama and tension. 


Director Nilsson, an adept at coaxing comedy from both his actors' performances and the clever use of photography and production design, channels first-rate Hollywood cheese with industrial bursts of steam and a white knuckle grip for dear-life. 

The edit was more challenging than most, requiring a very fine balance between using the excellent performance of the actor and imprinting the iconic likeness of Dolph Lungdren; "if one was pushed too far," says Ben, regarding the fine-tuned equilibirum needed, "...the effectiveness of the other would be lost. 

Despite these complex technical hurdles, the team pulled through to deliver a deeply funny spot that has set the bar for comic adverts in 2022.