A cologne purchase is different from a computer purchase or something in that if your peer group thinks it's cool, that actually does make it better than the alternatives.
Still wouldn't have made it true. Without any relevant data, I could speculate that non-techies are less likely to buy a computer based on technical merits, and more likely to decide based on what their friends have (especially technical friends that they could bum help off of)
But that doesn't make it inherently better than the alternatives. The sole purpose of Old Spice (and scents in general) is to improve how others see you, and therefor whether your peers perceive Old Spice as being a superior choice decides whether it is.
Focus on "if your peer group thinks it's cool, that actually does make it better than the alternatives" instead of "different from a computer purchase" and it should make sense.
Also, I think that "a computer purchase among geeks" would have been better. Why? We, as geeks, are much, much more likely to ignore the opinions of others and chose a computer on its own merits, instead of as a fashion accessory. Whereas a non-computer geek would be more likely to choose to use a Mac because they're the cool option and many of their friends like/have/want them.
Yes, non-techies do seem quite likely to ask their friends for advice on computers, and take cues from what their friends have and what they've said about them. Word of mouth is powerful.
> The sole purpose of Old Spice (and scents in general) is to improve how others see you, and therefor whether your peers perceive Old Spice as being a superior choice decides whether it is.
I don't think that this is true. The product being tracked here is a body wash; its purpose is to keep you clean (which does, I suppose, improve how others see you). I may choose one body wash over another based on how I expect it to be perceived, but I think it's an exaggeration to say that that's its sole purpose. (I used Old Spice deodorant for a long time, because it was cheap and it worked; it had nothing to do with other people's images of me.)
(edited to remove ambiguity)