Isaiah Mustafa is an American actor and former NFL practice squad wide receiver. He is widely known as the main character for a series of Old Spice TV commercials, The Man Your Man Could Smell Like.
Mustafa was born in Portland, Oregon, the youngest of seven children, to Shahidah Mustafa-Davis and John Wali Mustafa, a Muslim family. When he was about five years old, his family moved to Mission Viejo, California, where his father established a limousine service. They moved to Oxnard two years later, after the death of his father.
Mustafa got into track as a senior at Santa Clara High in Oxnard, California and was a member of the basketball team. After an outstanding run with the Saints basketball team, many expected a Division I school to recruit Mustafa. He attended Arizona State University, where he majored in History and played as a starting wide receiver for the Arizona State Sun Devils until he was benched in his senior year. He graduated in 1997. After graduating, he played four years in NFL practice squads as a wide receiver.
Mustafa’s acting career began with bit roles on various television programs, such as L.A. Law, productions and films. He gained sudden fame in February 2010 for his role in the popular The Man Your Man Could Smell Like advertising campaign for Old Spice. Subsequently, a three-day session created a series of humorous, personalized YouTube videos, with Mustafa reprising the character from the original Old Spice commercial. These were directed at members of the public and celebrities, who had asked him questions on websites such as reddit, Facebook and Twitter.
On July 26, 2011, Old Spice launched a new campaign on YouTube featuring a challenge between Mustafa and Fabio entitled Mano in el Baño. Mustafa said he wasn’t worried, even though Fabio has been “the epitome of the sex symbol as a pitchman”. Mustafa ultimately emerged as the winner. He resumed his work for Old Spice with a series of advertisements released in January 2014.
The campaign featured several webpages selling false products directed at men, which were interrupted with Mustafa suggesting that men buy Old Spice instead. In August 2015, Mustafa once again appeared in Old Spice commercials, this time alongside Terry Crews.