Wild Turkey Bourbon invites blokes to step up in new brand campaign via AJF Partnership Sydney
Campari Australia has launched a new brand campaign for Wild Turkey bourbon, Australia’s leading premium Kentucky Straight Bourbon via AJF Partnership, Sydney and production company Luscious International.
According to Wild Turkey Bourbon’s group marketing manager, Sally Byrne, the new campaign salutes and celebrates prominent men throughout history who have ‘stepped up’ and ignites the universal desire for all Aussie blokes to ‘have a go’.
Says Adam Rose, AJF creative director: “Rewarding a mate who steps up has provided us with a very exciting platform. Getting the opportunity to tinker with 1200bhp engines, climb Everest, play golf on the moon and be served bourbon by a turkey doesn’t happen as often as I’d like these days, but thankfully it did on this job. From our very first strategy session to working with legendary Top Gun actor James Tolkan, it’s been an absolute blast.”
Fresh from a five-year stint shooting Top Gear in the UK, Luscious director Owen Trevor was equally enthusiastic about the project.
Says Trevor: “From the outset, I loved the idea of saluting men who step up. When I saw the initial script, I wanted to start shooting immediately! Rarely do you get such a fantastic chance to unleash a full bag of tricks.”
The comprehensive campaign launched exclusively to Wild Turkey’s Facebook fans on Friday and includes 1 x 60, 3 x 30 and 4 x 15 second TVCs, plus digital, outdoor and point of sale.
Client: Campari Australia
Group Marketing Manager: Sally Byrne
Global Category Director: Melanie Hardman
Senior Brand Manager: Paolo Marinoni
Agency: AJF Partnership Sydney
Creative Director: Adam Rose
Senior Art Director: Jakub Szymanski
Senior Copywriter: Alex Stainton
Managing Director: Digby Richards
Head of Strategy: Jody Elston
Agency Producer: Roz Ruwhiu
Senior Account Manager: Andrew Harvey
Production Company: Luscious International
Director: Owen Trevor
Executive Producer: Andrew Morris
DOP: Peter Eastgate
Post: D’luscious
Sound: Klang
43 Comments
Well done guys. Great spot.
Gold! Very funny and beautifully crafted.
Well done to all.
Ouch.
It’s better than the Barnesy spot for the premix.
That does not make it good.
The VO is not selling me, it sounds phoned in. Production values are lacking too.
Sound design is passable.
But the line? Bird up? Really?
Pass
Where to start? The bird wing device? The lame party scene at the end? Oh dear. It’s tough to be funny, so maybe sometimes it’s best not to try.
@ Hmmm: Lame comment junior, you’ve just shown everyone how very little you know.
These are bloody great.
Love it
@Funny
It’s a misnomer mate. You’re not. And you don’t know what is.
If you spend more than a couple of years in the game, you’ll realise that.
The line should be ‘We’re for bourbon”
Flagrant agency comments aside, these spots are incredibly laboured. They could have been funny but they repeated the same gag over and over, while leaving 3 second pauses for you to ‘get it’.
I’m sure the agency and the client thought they were funny. But they’re not funny at all.
Shame, could have been great.
Very entertaining!
I laughed and watched again several times.
Can’t mistake who it’s for either which a rarity these days.
Now where do I get myself one of those birds?
Nice work
Would have looked really nice on paper and iIsuspect a joy to present.
Horribly let down in production.
– Junior @ AJF, ECD anywhere else…
That title is one of the dumbest things I’ve read in a while.
I doubt anyone at AJF would consider an ECD to be only a Junior at AJF.
As a CD elsewhere (admitedly not an ECD) I like these a lot. Clear message told in an irreverent way. Good job.
Now then, humour is hard enough, but irreverent humour is even harder, which is why only bold and extremely talented risk takers have ever got it spot on: Python / Milligan / Little Britain / Farrelly Bros / Simpsons etc.
This idea should certainly be applauded for actually getting up, but the production values, and specifically the art direction are appalling. And the timing is positively shocking – which shows beyond any doubt that if you’re going to do humour, then hire some experienced professionals to write and direct. If you can’t afford them, don’t do it.
But, credit where it’s due, you guys had a bloody good go, so fair play to all concerned.
So close, sooooo close. But agree, production and a few weird quirks like that wing (why???) ruin it for me.
And I’d like to like it because the idea’s solid. It’s reward for effort which has worked brilliantly for VB (excepting the recent hiccup).
Like ’em. Think Bird Up is the weakest part.
Go Wild – or something which links stronger to
brand would’ve worked better for me.
BUT, I’d gladly put them on my reel.
Surely CD and ECD are exactly the same thing, unless CD is in an honorary position. In any other industry ‘Executive’ simply means ‘working in the business’. Think about it. ECD is a convoluted contrivance only the advertising industry could invent to add ‘prestige’ for one individual over another.
And the work? Initially amusing (the golf vignette at least), but one very quickly tires of it. That wing device is truly bizarre and looks like something bunged in at the last minute (by the client?) to ‘improve branding’.
agency:
and people all over the country will start saying ‘bird up’ instead of ‘man up’!!
client:
yeah!!
people all over the country:
no we won’t.
not as bad as i was expecting, but seriously.. the line. BIRD UP? seriously?
Nup.
Love “BIRD UP”*
It’s like “MAN UP”, but it swaps the word “MAN” for “BIRD”. Geddit?
Normal guys will get it. You guys a bunch of turkeys.
This is a funny spot, and it’s slow enough for the sort of guys that like bourbon.
*I am not associated with this ad in any way. Since it seems like everyone’s flashing their creds around, I’m a midweight writing DM for a bank. Livin’ the dream, fellas. Livin’ it so hard. Ha kacha.
Great stuff. That turkey and VO make it for me.
The turkey wing and VO absolutely make it for me. Great job fellas.
Terribly executed!
Were these spots edited “inhouse” at D’luscious Post?
The creative idea is clearly funny, but the directional and editing timing is off… The gags are completely laboured sadly resulting in not very funny commercials.
Could of been saved in edit.
Everything perfect, except for the most important bit. Being funny. Should have spent a lot less time discussing post and art dept and a lot more time thinking about comedic timing.
Like them. The wing device is cool.
Agree the edit could’ve been a bit tighter, but they’re still good.
I’m going to have a stab here and suggest these ads aren’t intended to be thigh slappers. If they were they would have written jokes into them. I don’t see ‘jokes’.
My guess is they intend to make a point about getting off your arse and trying something new in a (to quote others here) stupid/irreverent/fun/bizzare way.
Is that wing bizzare? Very. But that’s what makes it memorable for me – and call me crazy but actually links to the brand. I reckon bourbon land will love ’em.
Personally ‘Bird Up’ is a bit American for me but hey it’s an American product and beats the crap out of ‘Give’em the bird’.
Good stuff. Nice and irreverent. That hokey bird wing is a neat little device to insert the product. Well done all.
Wonder what they’ll do online? There’s nothing on the FB page and no URL in the endframe, is that it? Hope they’ve got big media $$
Found the version I saw on air last night. I like the 30.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OP1nwlVrAs0
If this were directed better, it could have been good at best. It’s slow and laboured. Needs a faster cut.
@ Jack Sparrow: Just for you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OP1nwIVrAs0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLFGvuhJlUI&feature=relmfu
Sorry, but no amount of AJF comments will hide the fact that this is seriously pony.
and thats folks is what an ad looks like when you don’t have the budget to do it properly….
fuck this is shit wrong director straight up.
Tolkan is a legend!
Like these a lot and the bogans will too.
I second the above comment. I’m a director & there a major missed opportunities with this kind of script & budget. Timing is a shocker.
And no I did not pitch on this.
Note to those responsible for writing and selling this idea in.
Someone will always, always eventually say, yeah we can do it for the money.
This is what you get.
Theres funny stuff here .
The timing is easily fixed on this spot. Just cut about 15seconds out of it… All the space between jokes is screwing it up.
This ad is a BIG idea and it needed a HUGE budget and maybe a director like Noam Murro. No amount of “quirky treatment” is going to resolve the cash short fall in this one. Don’t go there if you can’t afford it.
Lack of cash isn’t the problem. Lack of comedy is.
We should get TIVO