The most striking difference between the two deodorants is their sizes. The Adidas deodorants from Spain, and all deodorant in Spain for that matter, are extremely small in comparison to American deodorants. The deodorant in Spain holds about 55g while American deodorants hold around 76g. This is a considerable difference in the amount being offered. Another major difference is the type of substance the deodorant comes in. In America, it is customary for roll-on deodorants to be given in stick form, meaning the deodorant material is hard and is rubbed off on a person’s body. However in Spain, the only roll on deodorant I could find offered the deodorant as a liquid and uses a rolling ball mechanism that puts the liquid on the body. I have seen this done before in the U.S., but it is very uncommon and usually utilized by cheaper brands of deodorant. All of these differences amount to a shorter period of use. The stick method used by American deodorants allows the material to last longer while the liquid method causes it to come out too much or rub off easily on clothes, requiring repeated use. What I find interesting about the Spain deodorant is that it is round and the sides of the packaging resembles grips found on most sports utensils. This is something not seen on American deodorants because the size is bigger, making it easier to grip than the smaller deodorants in Spain. I’m sure the grips are meant not only to resemble sports material, but also to grip the deodorant as you apply it.
Despite these differences, there are also a couple of similarities. Given that both deodorants target men and are specialized for athletes, they utilize very dark colors. While the Spain deodorant I purchased is black, it also uses silver and a dark shade of orange to portray that it is meant for men (women deodorants are usually in lighter colors like white and pink). The American deodorants tend to use colors such as dark blue and green, but the use of silver is very common. The advertising on the products is also very similar. Both packages use terms such as “quick dry,” “24 hour anti-perspirant,” and product names such as “Intensive,” “Sport,” and “Adventure” to convey that they should be used by those who live a very active lifestyle. I was honestly surprised that many of the deodorants I found in Spain had English text on them. There seemed to be an absence of original Spanish products with Spanish text on them, as if all of the deodorants come from foreign companies. This was even visible in the women deodorants, which were usually manufactured by Dove. I would think that given that these deodorants are from foreign markets they would perhaps resemble them, but I could only assume that this style of deodorant is more popular in Spain than it is in America.
After analyzing the deodorants in Spain I’ve begun to think harder about advertising in Spain and what is considered ad-worthy. Deodorants are often advertised heavily in the U.S., but here in Spain not only are the products smaller, but the advertisement towards it seems to be minimal to non-existent. I find this interesting because in the U.S. it is normal to advertise products such as deodorants, toothbrushes, etc. I now want to focus to see if product advertisement has an impact on product packaging. It’s a relation I have never made a connection to before, but I wonder if the same happens in the U.S.
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