The Whisky Welcome

Global drinks powerhouse Diageo has just launched the first ad campaign for its whisky brand, Haig Club. The 90-second short, titled Welcome, is directed by none other than Guy Ritchie, and stars David Beckham amongst others. It revolves around a series of separate journeys, following a group of friends as they travel by various means through the Scottish Highlands, finally meeting at an old castle to suit up, drink up and take some photos.

Lots of people have been confused by Beckham as the personality of choice for this campaign – after all, what does Becks know about whisky, and how does his association with the brand resonate? It’s important however to recognise what the advertisers are trying to achieve here – and in our opinion, this campaign is all about style, distinction, and looking good.

It’s shot by a director renowned for producing great-looking movies. It features sweeping, airborne vistas of some of the most beautiful landscapes in the world. And it shines the spotlight on Becks, who the Mail Online claims is still one of the world’s most handsome men. Admittedly, he does scrub up pretty well here.

Upon seeing this campaign, we couldn’t help but recall another glamorous whisky ad we’d seen recently - Johnnie Walker Blue Label’s short film The Gentleman’s Wager, featuring Jude Law and Giancarlo Giannini. In fact, we wrote an article about it just a couple of months ago...

Johnnie Walker, interestingly, is also owned by Diageo. Seems the global brand likes the strategy of coupling their whiskies with famously good-looking faces. As an expensive luxury alcohol, advertising that highlights the associated glamour lifestyle of the product certainly makes good sense; however, are these ads competing with each other a little too directly? Will Law and Becks trip each other up on the way to the club, or will they pull a group together for whiskies all round? Only time will tell if this tactic pours success for Haig Club. 

If you want to watch the full video, click here

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