Monday, December 19, 2022

Liquor ads (44)

On Fresh Air today, media critic John Powers discussed five TV series and movies that he enjoyed this year but hadn't gotten around to covering. One of them was this groovin' two-minute ad for Belvedere Vodka, featuring Daniel Craig, director Taika Waititi, and choreographer JaQuel Knight:

That got me thinking about an ad I've been amazed by every time I've seen it—but what was it? I knew it was for a Scotch whisky. Dewar's? No. Oh, right: Johnnie Walker. A little hunting, and I had it: "The Man Who Walked Around the World," directed by Jamie Rafn, and featuring Robert Carlyle in one exquisite extended (five-minute!) tracking shot, perfectly exemplifying the JW motto of "Keep Walking." (And here is an article on the making of it.)

And of course, there have to be more excellent liquor ads, no? A little more googling, and I had an aficionado's list of nine—which included the above JW ad, as well as another JW ad called "Dear Brother." Then there's this humorous one for Aviation Gin, starring a former owner of the label, actor Ryan Reynolds:


We've even got Ridley Scott directing an otherworldly (literally) ad for Hennessy's XO called "The Seven Worlds," to symbolize the seven "tasting notes" of this cognac.

Then there's the opposite take, for Koskenkorva, "Vodka from a Village":

And finally, and amusingly, Woodstock Bourbon:

That's all I've got today!


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