Perhaps nobody doesn’t like Sarah Lee, but nobody but nobody doesn’t adore the Old Spice spots starring Mustafa. They are watched, Googled, virally shared, enjoyed and critically acclaimed.

Yet, according to MSNBC, Mustafa has only succeeded in selling the commercials, not the product. Amid the campaign’s runaway popularity, sales of Red Zone After Hours Body Wash have fallen 7 percent. (Did you even know the product in question was Red Zone After Hours Body Wash?)

Awareness ain’t sales. Web hits ain’t sales. Popular commercials ain’t sales. Buzz ain’t sales. If you count such things as successes while sales remain flat or ebb, I envy you. Clearly you have money to burn. Thank for spending it on entertaining us all.

—Steve Cuno    *UPDATE: Perhaps I blogged too soon. See Mike Denison’s comment.