Johnnie Walker sends up serious scotch drinkers in new TV campaign via Leo Burnett, Sydney
Scotch – it’s a serious drink for serious and important people. Or at least that’s the perception, which doesn’t exactly make it much fun. It was time to make people think differently about whisky.
So for its new Johnnie Walker campaign shot in the US by Harold Einsten via Station Film, LA, Leo Burnett Sydney embraced all the old perceptions, creating a tongue-in-cheek reminder that everyone’s important enough to drink the drink of ‘serious and important’ people.
Client: Diageo Australia
Marketing Director: Matt Bruhn
Marketing Manager: Nikki Burke
Senior Brand Manager: Charlie Downing
Agency: Leo Burnett, Sydney
Chief Creative Officer: Andy DiLallo
Creative Director: Tim Green
Copywriter: Grant McAloon
Art Director: Cameron Harris
Agency Producer: Margot Fitzpatrick
Head of Account Management: Peter Bosilkovski
Account Director: Claire Kesby-Smith
Account Manager: Tom Grace
Production Company: Station Film, Los Angeles
Director: Harold Einstein
Producer: Eric Liney
Director of Photography: Dante Spinotti
Editing Company: Cutting Room
Editor: Merritt Duff
Post Production & FX: The Mill
Producers: Rachel Stones and Mel Wickham
Sound Post Production: Song Zu
71 Comments
It’s a rip off of the Old Spice Commercials with Issiah Mustafa. The rhythm and syntax are exactly the same. And this following on from the Bundaberg flight of the concords skit. Shame on you Leo Burnetts – how much interest do you need to borrow!?
Now I’ll drink to that!
Congrats to the team at Leos.
Directed by Harold Einstein at Station FIlm, USA.
Harold & Station are represented in Australia and NZ by Curious Film.
The important man your man could be important like.
Not that it’s a carbon copy, but it feels like we’ve walked down this path before.
Off brand. leo’s should get a different ‘head of funny’. Too busy watching what wins awards then trying to mimic. Better luck next time- don’t think you’ll be walking.
I like em.
Even though they feel like a weird mix of half a dozen of my favorite ads of the past 3 years.
who was the planner?
and a massive rip off of THE MOST INTERESTING MAN IN THE WORLD.
Zero creative integrity – ZERO
A thing of beauty. It’s not often an ad gives me tingles. And that is some freakin awesome copywriting.
Glorious self promotion pete.
Sorry, but what a load of wank. who gives a toss if it is derivative, its just tired old rubbish
Entertaining yes, but a path a few others have been down.
Nicely produced but the idea is so 2007
A “reminder that everyone’s important enough to drink the drink of ‘serious and important’ people”?
How does it do that, exactly?
i liked it just for the don johnson cameo
Here’s a thought.
Why not use an Australian director instead of all yank crew and talent.
You know, you’re talking to Australians yeah?
Ha ha. If people think this is a rip of Old Spice they’re deluded. It’s great character driven comedy. Something that’s been around long before Old Spice for fucks sake. I love it and I’d have it for my reel. Some serious Leo haters on here.
At some point during the creative review, or when reading the treatments, or during the casting, or in the pre pro, or on the shoot, or in the edit, or at the client presentation, or at the launch party, surely someone must have have asked, ‘do you think it’s a bit like Old Spice?’ The answer is that it is, but there’s one big difference. It won’t win anything.
@ qwerty:
I don’t understand what you’re saying — I’m not from Australia. Can you please explain?
Saw it on telly, my non-advertising Mrs immediately said, “That’s a bit of a rip-off”
Old Spice aside, it just seems wildly off brand to me. Actually takes the piss out of the core of the brand value of personal achievement. What would John Hegarty say?
But full marks just for selling it in.
yeah some real haters. This is awesome.
Mr Disbelief how exactly is this a rip off?
I really enjoyed it. Excellent writing. Well done Leos
IMMENSE!
Yep – anything with someone talking to camera in a humourous way is Old Spice. It’s so similar right down to the transitions goddam it. I really like this spot – seems Leo’s gets a lot of hate for some reason. Is it because they’re good or was it that fucking Earth Hour?
Love it. Great work. And as far as the similarities to Old Spice go, yes it is similar, but then so are all the other great TVCs with a wry presenter addressing camera – it’s part of a genre, not a rip off!! Once again, great stuff.
I like it, but let’s not kid ourselves here Leo’s, it ain’t new and it ain’t fresh. It’s a mix between Old Spice, Dos Equis and a few other beer/booze commercials.
Its very well written, well cast and well shot. So well done there. And the punters will laugh, but borrowing from so many sources, I wonder if they’ll lose the brand in the confusion?
@ the first poster: The rhythm and syntax of Old Spice was ripped from Will Ferrell you tosser. Everything has a source of inspiration.
Love this ad. Really good work.
I DIDNT LAUGH SO HOW IS IT COMEDY….?
IT KINDA JUST DIDNT GO ANYWHERE…… BUT THERE WAS SOME CLEVER WRITING.
BUT IT LEFT ME A BIT FLAT IN TRUTH.
Rubbish. You can do a humorous presenter to camera without sounding Old Spice. The intonation here is identical and the way he speaks by running words into each other e.g ‘every bit as important as the important discussions important men discuss…” Even the opener with the barber at the start feels Old Spice. I feel embarrassed for them, because Leos are a great agency. I don’t know why they’d feel the need to do something like this, when they could have easily done something fresh.
This is great work. Cmon! Theres a lot of green on this blog.
So just to be clear, you ACTUALLY wrote that “You didn’t laugh so it mustn’t be funny?” Well i guess that makes you a (self-appointed) Important Man (perhaps that’s why it didn’t amuse you?).
@ROLAND THE WANKER
IF I TRULY THOUGHT YOU UNDERSTOOD THE MEANING OF RHYTHM AND SYNTAX, WELL, I’D PROBABLY FEEL ABASHED (YOU CAN LOOK THAT UP TOO)!
Mr hellzyeah, that green would be vomit rather than envy
like them.
I love that ad so much it made me storm out of the grading suite i was grading in and take a couple of laps of the block while enjoying a couple deep breaths. It was only until my second deep breath that I started to ponder its similarity to Old Spice. I shook it off then took in another block and another breath, muffled a quite “fuck” under yet another deep breath then got back to my colour grade – it doesn’t look much like the ad that had just given me pains of jealousy. Why doesn’t it look like the ad that had just given me pains of jealousy? Better go for another walk.
fiduciary!!!!
Brilliant.
@Chris Northam you’re not making any sense. Another long lunch, eh?
After reading all the comments, I was prepared not to like these at all. Congratulations on being so persuasive. Perhaps you should give up being shadowy hate spitters and go into advertising?
However, I found them quite enjoyable. But I agree it doesn’t feel like Johnny Walker (especially when you put it next to such a great spot like The Man Who Walked). Maybe they are specifically targeting the younger crowd of financials.
Also, may I congratulate those who have posted before me on such liberal use of the word ‘syntax’.
One of the most difficult clients on the face of the planet.
And they made something as good as this!
I’m amazed.
Syntax.
I saw mad-men and thought ‘hey, why don’t we add a bit of old spice to those goons’.
The reason it feels familiar is it sends up every tycoon stereotype available. And for non scotch drinkers it will work. Unfortunately for people who know their scotch, they aren’t going to go anywhere near this. It’s not real scotch.
Guys, seriously. What’s with all the hate? These are great. Brilliant script writing. Awesome 15’s. And fiduciary? Gold! So many great touches. The perfume bottle for men? All time!
To all the haters out there take a look at all the pathetic alcohol ads that are coming out of all the other corners of the world and then comment. This is a big win.
For the douche that made the comment of using an Australian Director, it’s an international drink and it’s black label. It deserves international class and sophistication. It’s a tired stupid argument.
I really wish I had these on my reel. Well done to all involved.
For the guy that wasn’t laughing? You should get out more. And for the wife of the dude that said it was a rip off? You should divorce your husband. Obviously he’s bored you to tears to the point of brainwashing. Maybe you should find a guy that can talk about something else? Like Fiduciary?
These spots beat the crap out of anything that has come from the likes of Ogilvy, GPY&R (Sydney) Euro, M&C, BWM and McCann combined. Actually, if you combined all their efforts for the past 4 years they still wouldn’t come close. And yes, I work at one of these shut holes.
Not sure if I missed a few frames or blinked but what kind of visual transition is it between the mermaid and her hand giving him a drink….just felt really clunky and not thought through…a little too try hard overall to make any one actually try the product I feel..but the again maybe people are seeing something in it I’m not!
Off brand. Keep on walking.
hey nice work dudes. turned out pretty much as i thought it would only more funny.
Old.
Spice.
.I love the look of the spot. It’s about the most original thing it’s got going for it.
Haters gunna hate. These ads are great.
Seriously. Go hate on a Brandpower infomercial – this things got class and would keep the average viewer more then intrigued.
This site is full of such pretentious wanna be creatives that struggle because they are stuck copywriting shitty little ads that everyone hates.
I don’t think haters is the correct use of the term when people are just saying the ad is similar to other ads.
There is no doubt it is of a very similar genre…if not exactly derivative.
However it is well written.
But however well written it is it is still similar.
Whether Johnny Walker will keep on walking to the stage for a gong as far as this is concerned in my view is dubious.
It may have a similar demise to the demise of other similar ads of the past which might prove fiduciary to the agency concerned in the future.
Sit down….when the award announcements are made except for craft and writing.
Saying that it is heaps better than all the other ads on telly…but is it world class in idea terms…maybe the recession might help it in a lacklustre year…so lets let the judges be the judge.
x
having lots of words that others aren’t familiar with does not necessarily mean well written. especially when you have to watch it numerous times to understand what those words are trying to say.
Wazzup!
What chu up to Bee? Chillin out havin a bud was missing!
I actually don’t think it’s that well-written either.
Ian, it sounds like the ad/s had lots of words YOU weren’t familiar with.
I wish I could get high on the smell of my own shit. Save a lot of cash.
Entertaining.
Doesn’t feel like the Johnnie Walker ‘keep on walking’ / ‘walk with giants’ brand work from BBH.
Feels more like the old Carlton Draught ‘Canoe’ kind of work…
‘Pretty Impressed’ got it right – one of the most difficult clients on the planet. I sat through many, many, many acronym-filled, jargon-riddled meetings for this same brand overseas. It’s mind-numbing. So to survive the process – and it is a p.r.o.c.e.s.s. – with something like this is very impressive.
It’s much better than 95% of the pap on TV. In my humble opinion, the punters will like it, whether some of us think it’s derivative or not.
It’s always nice to see an Australian ad get the recognition it deserves oversea. Ad Week USA:
Johnnie Walker and Leo Burnett Sydney would like to present: the man your man could steal like.
Plenty of advertisers—mostly notably, Dairy Queen—have shamelessly co-opted the style of Wieden + Kennedy’s award-winning Old Spice work with Isaiah Mustafa. But Johnnie Walker takes it to a new level in this Australian spot directed by Harold Einstein. Here, we have a suave gent pitching scotch as the drink of the rich and powerful—with goofy sight gags and ultra-witty dialogue yanked directly from the W+K work. The rhythms of the writing are practically identical—just not as good. Our hero enjoys getting whiffs of “the sultry tang of a woman’s hair” (huh?) and says his drink of choice is “every bit as important as the important discussions important men discuss.” Don Johnson also makes a silly cameo midway through, for added whimsy.
The Important Man even slaps some scotch on his face like aftershave at one point. Perhaps that’s supposed to be an acknowledgment of the source material. But it doesn’t make it any less embarrassing. The Old Spice work was so fresh and original at the time. To recycle it so explicitly, and pretend your copy is fresh, is the height of hack work.
The Johnnie Walker tagline comes in handy here. Leo Burnett Sydney, next time you see a campaign you envy and would like to imitate, keep walking.
Mick – life is like a bicycle. You have to keep moving to keep your balance.
Here’s the thing.
What happens if i see one of these ads and get interested?
In the story? The characters?
The comedy?
I go online for a look.
I want some more.
What and who do I find that connects?
F*ck all.
Where is the depth?
Not on their website.
Not on the obligatory Facebook page either.
Go on google it.
You’re on this blog so presumably you know what the internet is.
Execution aside, conceptually and strategically this sums up everything that is wrong with the advertising industry.
It’s overblown, tactical and single-channel driven and doesn’t represent the way people consider, buy and evaluate brands in a multi channel environment.
What a waste.
And it’s f*cking whisky not scotch.
hey einstein, imagination is more important than knowledge. how about you discover yours and create something half original?
Yeah Einstein, as long as you’re not peddling the same old shit.
I know the lads who did this and they’re far more talented than the hacks who love to attack anything and everything on this blog. This isn’t a rip-off of Old Spice at all, like most things you can draw parallels and similarities, look at cinema for instance, but some of the aggression on here is blatant schadenfreude (look that up Ian). Apparently the guy was originally going to be Will Ferrell, but in my opinion this turned out much better.
The hate that spills out on here is disgusting. Perpetuated by a sense of insecurity and fear of failure that exists in all creative people. Some prefer to deal with it in a more mature manner, whether through polite criticism or praise. Others, like many above, are just pathetic.
I’ve seen most of the current ads out there and they’re all shit. So try harder, and eventually you might make something as good as this.
Jon.
MIck those who live in glass houses and all….
http://www.bestadsontv.com/ad/31702/Weet-Bix-Space
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipz51UjbbiI
get your head out of your asses. this is great spot. with the amount of crap on tele it amazes me how this blog can bag a campaign like this. take a freaking chill pill and embrace local creativity.
A bad case of Astroids Andy. Need to go to to the docs and have them removed.
Two wrongs don’t make a right Mr. Dillalo. But a good point.
Anyway, for what it worth from someone with 20 years experience…..I have to agree with much of the above.This is a mix of Old Spice and Dos Equis (Most interesting man in the world). Nicely shot but far from original.
That in itself is disappointing but this is from the same agency who produced an even closer rip-off commercial just a few months ago. The Bundaberg Five ad was just a straight lift of the award winning ‘White Gold’ Milk ad from the US.
So what’s going on over there at Leo’s? Yes, both great looking ads shot in the US but far from original. In fact, very close to being copies.
Once is an accident. Twice is more than a coincidence. Come on Leo’s. You’re better than that. Some original work of your own from here on please.
Leo’s must be stupid or incredibly arrogant to put this spot out and the budaberg bullshit and think they’d get away with either. adweek summed it up exactly and someone over there at Leo’s should get that swagger kicked out of their asses by both management and these clients. how about we put both on Gruen and let the viewers decide?
you’ve just proved why you work at one of those shit holes
Response to Adweek [which appeared on the Adweek site: http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/ad-day-johnnie-walker-136091 – from Andy DiLallo, chief creative officer at Leo Burnett Sydney:
“Everyone is entitled to an opinion so although I disagree wholeheartedly with yours I accept it for what it is, an opinion, but in the interest of fair and balanced journalism I would like to share mine with your readers. If Fox News can claim to offer it, surely so can Adweek.
So, let’s talk cold hard opinion. What you are implying in your article is that no other brand globally can use ‘goofy sight gags and ultra-witty dialogue’ without infringing on the holly grail of American advertising, Old Spice’s ‘The Man Your Man Could Smell Like.’
Then you out-and-out deceive your audience by saying that my agency’s spot for Johnnie Walker actually yanked dialogue directly from the W+K work. Where exactly did we do that? You said it, so I assume you can point it out. I have triple checked and can’t seem to find it. Surely a journalist of your stature wouldn’t just make up fiction to serve his point? [Editor’s note: This wasn’t meant literally, and has been clarified in the text.]
Then you go on to say the rhythm of the writing is practically identical. Sorry, I don’t really see it. Old Spice is written to be delivered in one continuous take, running the dialog together into itself, so it forces the viewer to hang on every word attentively.
The rhythm of our spot for Johnnie was written to have a very punctuated dialog, using dramatic pauses to amplify the delivery of the intended humor, focusing viewers to pay attention to very specific words throughout—e.g., Scotch, Fiduciary, Don Johnson, Sit Down, Stand Up. Saying these two spots’ rhythms are practically identical seems like a bit of an over exaggeration.
As far as saying the writing in our spot isn’t as good as the 2010 Film Grand Prix, honestly, whose writing is? I am comfortable accepting that point as true.
I am also comfortable with comparisons being drawn between our spot and “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like.” As a matter of fact, this isn’t the only comparison out there. People have also drawn parallels to Dos Equis and earlier work from Old Spice, circa Bruce Campbell, to name but a few. But accusing us of stealing work and then labeling us as hacks is completely unfair and out of line!
Our work is of a genre, one that is far older than Old Spice and far broader than advertising. People like Will Ferrell, Steve Carell, Ricky Gervais and Alec Baldwin have been in this space for years. It seems unrealistic to think only one ad can now occupy this space—and if comparisons can be drawn, that they are intentional and symptomatic of an epidemic. I actually sat on the Cannes Film jury that awarded Old Spice, and I can honestly tell you, hand on heart, that the room was split at that time between, ironically enough, Old Spice and Johnnie Walker’s “The Man Who Walked Around the World.” Funnily enough, the argument then was that Old Spice felt too close to the old Tango ads to win. We all know how that argument ended.
In my opinion, you saw a chance to write a puff piece where you could position yourself as the purveyor of justice that doles out backhanded bitchslaps to anyone you see fit—doing so by attaching yourself and your opinion to the defense of a brand guaranteed to grab headlines (Old Spice), assuming you would face only limited backlash to yourself or your magazine, as the recipients of your lashings resided on the other side of the planet and are inconsequential in your market. But hey, it’s only one man’s opinion after all.”
Maybe you should have used Ricky Gervais then at least it would have been funny.
Andy, I believe you’re clutching at straw here.
I want to be this guy!! What an absolute legend, reminds me of the characters in the movie “Wall Street”. Slicked back hair, sitting in a businessman’s club, making big deals, popular with his peers – I just walk around my local shopping centre saying the words leverage, portfolio, fiduciary and people love me!