Did the Old Spice Guy Cure Racism?

Sure, the Old Spice Man has delighted Internet audiences with his defined pecs and alpha male good sense ("Muscles can't get sick"). But did he also end racism in America?

Yes, says The Root's Cord Jefferson in an article posted last week. Writes Jefferson:

"He's everywhere, topless and smoldering. And not only are his strength, intelligence and beauty at the forefront of his character, they're heralded as being at the apex of manhood. No man, black or white, can ever be as sexy, dynamic, talented and worldly as he, and no woman of any race can or should want to resist him. In day's past, Old Spice Guy would have been seen as threatening, aggressive, certainly unfit for a million-dollar ad campaign. But here in 2010, far from being fearful, America is rushing wildly into his sturdy embrace."

The Daily Beast's Tricia Romano agrees. "I'll go one further than Jefferson," she writes. "The Old Spice Guy isn't just good for Black America, [his] place in the pop culture pantheon is good for all of America." Here he is in action, ending racism: