Samuel Beckett meets Salvador Dali in this crazy new Drambuie ad from London ad agency Sell! Sell! and HSI director Chino Moya. We've seen some wacky liquor commercials in the past few weeks—notably the ones for Baileys and Smirnoff—but this new ad takes the cake, featuring all sorts of odd characters in a surreal and foreboding landscape. The message seems to be that Drambuie is the favored booze of those trapped in an existential hell from which there is no escape. (That may encompass a decent segment of the drinking population, actually.) The cinema spot is premiering in Canada first before heading to Scotland and then England.
The spot builds on some lovely print work, themed "A Taste of the Extraordinary," from late last year. Check out two of those ads below. "The idea behind 'A Taste of the Extraordinary' is to bring to life the thing that makes Drambuie unique—its taste," the agency said in a blog post. "It's still made to a secret recipe, taking a selection of malt whiskies from Speyside and the Highlands and blending them with spices, heather honey and herbs. But obviously with this being the world of premium alcoholic drinks, it's about much more than pure tangible product points—imbuing it with a sense of mystery and desirability is vital to get people to even consider it. … There are so many pragmatic and logical campaigns out there these days, so we wanted to make 'A Taste of the Extraordinary' a little more esoteric, explain a little less and intrigue a little more. Inspired by the vast history of surreal art, photography and film, we set out to create images that reflect Drambuie's taste."
