The Glenlivet says whiskey isn’t just a man’s drink in new TVC with Anna Paquin via Emotive
Academy Award Winner Anna Paquin and renowned Single Malt Scotch The Glenlivet are ripping up the rule book on whisky drinking traditions in a provocative new campaign via Emotive.
The Glenlivet is on a mission to break the whisky drinker stereotype and shine a light on all appreciators. As Paquin says in the new commercial, “Whisky doesn’t care what’s between your legs, so why should we be told to follow these rules?”
Noting her first experience with The Glenlivet, Paquin broke conventions by adding tonic to the whisky, “I first discovered Glenlivet while I was working in Scotland. While it tastes great on its own, I found it’s even yummier when you add a little mixer and create a cocktail.”
Paquin was selected to become the face of The Glenlivet Australia and New Zealand due to her ongoing invitation to flip convention on its head.
Says Kristy Rutherford, marketing manager, The Glenlivet Australia and New Zealand: “Whisky has long been seen as a symbol of power, drunk solely by middle-aged, white men behind closed doors of the ‘Old Boys’ Clubs’. In fact, one-third of whisky drinkers globally are women.”
The Australian and New Zealand campaign builds on The Glenlivet global mission to change the outdated perception of the stereotypical whisky drinker. To challenge the cultural norm of the whisky drinker as a middle-aged white man, The Glenlivet is infiltrating search engine algorithms, purposefully planting images to change the visual landscape.
#BreakTheStereotype celebrates inclusivity within whisky and is the first in a series of bold ambitions The Glenlivet is undertaking as part of their new platform, ‘This Is Whisky’. Now when searching ‘whisky drinker’ using Google Images, the user is greeted with diverse real whisky drinkers. In Australia and New Zealand, nearly a third of female drinkers drink whisky monthly, a 40% increase since 2015. Females are adopting whisky at four times the rate of males.
The launch film, directed by famed fashion director and photographer, Jamie Nelson at her 1968 Hollywood Regency style house in LA, sees Anna turning whisky drinking traditions on their head.
Creative Agency: Emotive
CEO: Simon Joyce
Creative Director: Ben Clare
Snr Producer: Gemma Atkinson
Art Director: Alex King
Business Director: Ciaran Miller-Stubbs Talent Acquisition: Ben Keep
Production: Plus, Plus
Director & Photography: Jamie Nelson
Managing Director: Dave Horowitz
Head of Content / Executive Producer: Trevor Paperny
Line Producer: Kaila Mulcahy
DP: Michael Merriman
Production Designer: Keith Boos
Hair: David Stanwell
Makeup: Amy Nadine
Wardrobe: Alexandra Mandelkorn
Post Production: The Editors
Post Producer: Charlotte Griffiths
Editor: Peter Barton
Colourist: Greg Constantine
Online: Heather Galvin
Stills Retouch: Gabrielle Hughes, SamIAm Management
Sound: Electric Sheep Music
Sound Design: Joe Mount
Song: “The Source” Frankie Simone
Marketing Director: Eric Thompson
Head of Whisky: Kristy Rutherford
Senior Brand Manager: Jessica Bath
Assistant Brand Manager: Josh Inbari
Photographer: Jamie Nelson
20 Comments
Awkward.
like. okay. that ad was really expensive for not much to say, hey?
This is awesome work. Refreshing for the category and just the right amount of sass. Well done all.
The commercial intention is strategically sound, but the rest is genuinely awful… There are so many ways to offer a fresh category narrative, and this isn’t one to be proud of.
Eg Absolut recognised an opportunity to position themselves as the antithesis of the “heritage” conventions of the vodka category – and they did so by positioning themselves as a cultural vanguard and playing on the fringes of contemporary art
#breakthestereotype however is just plain lazy – it’s like you just took the research and presented it to consumers, instead of actually thinking about how you could elevate this to something culturally meaningful/not trivial
Given that most whiskey drinkers expect a level of discernment in their brand choice, you’ve actually managed to dilute your brand. Bravo on the intention to position the brand as progressive, but you really need to think beyond the trivial
i like the idea of subverting but the vibe is jennifer jason leigh – seems lonely , listless ,without friends ? great location talent but cinematography is not living up to the potential .
That ad was actually able to make me cringe for the entire sixty seconds.
Sentiment is right. Execution way too deliberate.
It’s really bad Expensive and bad – the worst kind
Makes me sad
That is a shocker
🤢
And I’ll say it again. We need a Razzies for advertising
Yeah, this should work!
is because it’s so trite and overdone. break the rules. do it your way. ignore the haters. blah blah blah.
I think it feels awkward because it’s meant to be. It plays to the sass and energy and intention of the whole piece. That’s Anna in her home and over playing Anna. The camera work is unsteady but I think plays into it just fine.
Big “Hey fellow kids” energy, but in a sexist way, rather than age like the meme with the skateboard. Genuinely tone deaf and borderline offensive for this 40-50 upper middle class straight male demographic. Genuinely awful, and probably the opposite of advertising. I’m going to go buy something else.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXgtZAyW10o
Way more empowering and way less condescending to women.
Please note that Scotch is always whisky, not whiskey.
Again and again y’all don’t know your asses from your elbows when it comes to picking directors and production companies. I can name 30 directors who never get the “privilege” to treat who could have made this idea and script shine! Someone desperately needs to contemporize the process of picking filmmakers to make our ads NOW! All the film making talent is out there and NONE of it is being utilized. Stop gatekeeping.
Lemon in a single malt Scotch whisky? Why not market The Glenlivet & triple sec 90-proof hard seltzer? Maybe promote it by hiring Shoenice to chug a half gallon of it on YouTube! Yeah there’s nothing here that’s on-brand