True to form, Lemmy is back for an encore.
Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister, the iconic hard rocker who led British band Motörhead for five decades before passing away last month, returns in the commercial below for Finnish dairy brand Valio.
Naturally, he milks it in his trademark sublimely surly fashion, tossing in a saucy ad-lib and big smile in the spot, created by Hasan & Partners:
Pure Lemmy! If the milk were spiked with a nip of vodka, maybe he would've given it a try.
The ad was shot shortly before Lemmy's death in Maunula, Finland, near Hartwall Arena, where Motörhead performed after the shoot. It's a tribute both to Lemmy and to a classic Dairy Nutrition Council of Finland commercial from 20 years ago. The original (which you can see below) doesn't feature Lemmy, nor offhand profanity, but it does project the same cheeky outsider vibe.
Both spots were directed by Markus Virpiö, and Valio also created a website to honor heavy metal's fallen Ace of Spades.
"For a couple of years we've had this idea with Valio that we could remake the iconic Finnish milk ad, but with Lemmy," Jussi Lindholm, chief creative officer of Hasan, tells Adweek. "Valio's portfolio is so broad that there is probably a product even Lemmy would like."
Here is the original ad:
In December, with Motörhead playing in Finland, the timing was right, and irrepressible Lemmy brought his own special flavor to the proceedings.
"We didn't write 'you asshole' in the script," Lindholm says. "It wouldn't have made the original planned edit. It was a point in the shoot that made the entire crew laugh. The smile on his face was so genuine that we felt it was something we should share with the world."
After Lemmy passed away, they hatched a plan.
"We came to a conclusion that definitely we shouldn't do things in the way we originally planned," Lindholm says. "Instead, we should took to heart the instructions given in Motörhead's Facebook announcement where they stated that we should honor the great man and share stories and memories of him. So from this perspective we changed the angle of the video to be more of a tribute to Lemmy instead of it being too commercial."
The work held special significance for Lindholm, a self-described "massive Motörhead fan."
"This project meant the world to me," he says. "I was heartbroken when I read the news that he was no longer with us. The film is a beautiful memory of a magical moment that we wanted to share with others."
We can picture Lemmy grinning and rasping, "Hey, assholes … well done."