The long-tressed Fabio, whose image has launched a few hundred romance novels, claims to be "the new Old Spice guy." In one video, he bursts through a poster of Isaiah Mustafa, the former football player whose shirtless charm brought the world's largest consumer product maker and advertiser a big hit.
Behind Fabio's role is Wieden+Kennedy, the Portland, Ore.-based ad agency that helped create Mustafa's "Smell Like A Man, Man" campaign, an online and social media sensation last year.
P&G spokesman Mike Norton says Fabio's Old Spice TV commercials are running now, but Mustafa will be back to pitch for the brand.