Enjoy that Guinness, wherever it came from

Here's the most recent Guinness commercial from BBDO New York, in which a pint of the stuff makes an unlikely slide from quiet neighborhood bar to thirsty corporate ladder-climber. "Fortune favors the bold," the spot says. It also favors guys who drink openly at work.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Previously on AdFreak:
Guinness plays God in its latest lavish spot

Published on December 1, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (3)
Filed under Alcohol, BBDO, Guinness, Nudd

Guinness plays God in its latest lavish spot

AMV BBDO didn't take many short cuts for this new Guinness ad (video below), called "World," which breaks today in the U.K. According to the Guardian, they shot in four countries (New Zealand, Canada, Fiji and the U.K.); took three months to build the set for the underwater scene; got army assistance to film the grass-hauling shots at an old bombing range; and hired the set designer from the third Lord of the Rings film to pull it all together. Was it worth it? The ad shows a bunch of men bringing a new world into existence. The connection to Guinness is a bit vague—a churning pint of just-poured Guinness apparently also evokes a sense of rebirth. Or something like that. The tagline, "Bring it to life," is also new, replacing the long-running slogan, "Good things come to those who wait."

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on November 4, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (3)
Filed under Alcohol, BBDO, Europe, Guinness, Nudd

Guinness World Records joins 21st century

The Jim Pattison Group, parent company of Ripley Entertainment, bought the Guinness World Records franchise in early 2008, and was determined to wipe the dust off the old book and breathe a little life back into the whole enterprise. Thanks to a dose of modern marketing and some sweet co-branding, they've done it. There are now two Guinness editions: the basic 2009 edition, complete with its shiny foil cover and replete with all-new 3-D photography; and the 2009 gamer edition, coordinated with Twin Galaxies, the world's official video-game scorekeeper. Don't want to just read about it? You can play Guinness World Records: The Videogame (trailer posted above), now out for the Wii and DS, or head over to watch videos of the latest records on the Guinness World Records YouTube channel. All of which should help Guinness keep its own record as the best-selling copyrighted book of all time. Not bad at all for a 54-year-old brand. Via Underwire.

—Posted by Rebecca Cullers

Published on January 28, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Filed under Cullers, Guinness, Video games

Watch out for your wayward lovesick fridge

In this Guinness ad from Irish International BBDO, an entire city's refrigerators come unglued, flying violently out of their homes, compelled by obsessive magnetic forces to stick to the outsides of a Guinness truck. Upon viewing the ad, you might conclude that Guinness is unsafe to drink. After all, who wants to take a fridge to the guts after a quiet happy-hour pint? Then again, maybe Guinness is concerned with the greater good—this could be part of a devious refrigerator recycling program.

—Posted by David Kiefaber

Published on October 13, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (3)
Filed under Alcohol, BBDO, Guinness, Kiefaber

Spoken-word artist fired up about Guinness

This Guinness commercial from Saatchi & Saatchi London, starring spoken-word artist Ainsley Burrows, might seem pretty far afield from the product, but it's not. Lots of Guinness drinkers walk around counting out loud. Police are usually making them do it, but that's beside the point. Even all the New Agey stuff about journeys is relevant, although that usually occurs when they're still in the bar. Read move over at Adland.

—Posted by David Kiefaber

Published on October 3, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Filed under Alcohol, Guinness, Kiefaber, Saatchi & Saatchi

Who wants a big funnel cloud of Guinness?

So wait, Guinness is made from distilled tornadoes? We always thought it was roasted barley that gave it the dark ruby color and robust taste it's so famous for. That, or mice falling into the St. James Brewery vats. We've certainly never heard any weather-related explanations. We don't even know if Ireland gets any tornadoes, for that matter. Spot by Saatchi London.

—Posted by David Kiefaber

Published on September 25, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (3)
Filed under Alcohol, Guinness, Kiefaber, Saatchi & Saatchi

Guinness lightens up with light-show spot

We'd hate to see the electric bill for this building after they shot this Guinness ad, in which a band of pranksters flick the lights on and off by floor to emulate the “soft pour into a pint” technique made famous by the legendary dry stout. This impressive visual effort was intended to “entertain, engage emotionally and capture people’s imagination,” says a rep from Irish International BBDO in Dublin, which made the ad. Not sure if that’s how it was received, but that’s exactly what Guinness does to people who drink too much of it.

—Posted by David Kiefaber

Published on August 1, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Filed under Alcohol, BBDO, Guinness, Kiefaber

Surfing with Guinness on St. Patrick's Day

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, here's a look back at one of the great Guinness commercials of all time: 1999’s “Surfer” from AMV BBDO in London. In crafting the spot, art director Walter Campbell and copywriter Tom Carty were inspired by Herman Melville’s Moby Dick and, especially, by Walter Crane’s 1893 painting Neptune’s Horses, which shows ghostly white horses galloping atop a crashing surf. In a phone interview years ago, Campbell told me, “We thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be amazing if we could bring that [painting] to life.’ ” The spot was directed by Jonathan Glazer, the hot-shot music-video director who would go on to direct Sexy Beast the following year. The ad, which British viewers voted the best TV commercial of all time in a 2000 poll, is renowned for its violent Hawaiian surf footage. As Campbell put it, “Instead of making the kind of surf film where people say, ‘Hey, I’d like to do that,’ we wanted to say, ‘Maybe you should think twice about coming out here.’ ” Campbell and Carty’s other triumph for Guinness was 1998’s “Swimblack” spot. See that one here.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on March 17, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (2)
Filed under Alcohol, BBDO, Guinness, Nudd

Guinness ad found, shows domino toppling

Much was made of Guinness’s idea to have people hunt for its new commercial, which was supposedly hidden somewhere online. Those who had better things to do will be happy today to simply watch the ad, by AMV BBDO, on the Guardian’s Web site. (It’s also on YouTube.) Shot in Argentina by Nicolai Fugslig (who also directed Sony Bravia’s “Balls” commercial), it shows a dusty little town whose residents seem to have placed all of their collective trash (old cars, flaming hay bales, etc.) in a giant chain, to be toppled over, domino-like, eventually revealing a giant likeness of a Guinness pint glass in the town square. It steals from Honda’s old “Cog” ad, of course. Guinness takes pains to point out that no special effects were used, yet the ad still cost a reported £10 million to make.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on November 8, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Filed under Alcohol, BBDO, Guinness, Nudd

Guinness hides its latest commercial online

London’s AMV BBDO is putting together a kind of treasure hunt for Guinness. Instead of launching the newest Guinness commercial on TV, it’s hiding it somewhere online. “To be the first to see the new ad you must solve a series of clues, codes and puzzles and piece together the new film,” says the agency. “But don’t expect it to be easy. As you know, it just wouldn’t be Guinness if the reward didn’t involve a little waiting.” It might be better if we had the chance to uncover a lifetime supply of Guinness rather than a new commercial, but it sounds intriguing nonetheless. The first clue is the video above, featuring a Mr. Juan Ramon.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on October 24, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (6)
Filed under Alcohol, BBDO, Guinness, Nudd

A pint of Guinness is face-licking good

All those tiny acrobats leaping back and forth inside the Guinness cascade are there for a reason: to create a pint of beer so frothy, it provokes love at first sight, as seen in the commercial above. Steve Martin may have set the standard for spontaneous face-licking in The Jerk, but it’s still a great move. Via Ads of the World.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on September 18, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (10)
Filed under Alcohol, Guinness, Nudd

Now drink Guinness’s squirmy little soldiers

A pint of Guinness isn’t just a pint of Guinness. It’s a playground for thousands of tiny space-age stuntmen, clad in white suits, getting shot gleefully out of cannons and exploding onto enormous black drums. There’s also a large harp inside the pint, along with a bunch of horns and cymbals, so be careful not to choke on them when imbibing. The tagline is, “It’s alive inside.” Which seems ok for a yogurt, but for a beer? UPDATE: David Griner adds: What they’re really illustrating (I think) is the “Guinness cascade,” a strange effect where bubbles on the outside of the glass go down, but bubbles in the middle of the glass go up. It’s somewhat hypnotic, especially on your third Guinness.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on August 27, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (1)
Filed under Alcohol, Guinness, Nudd

Hands down, a great Guinness commercial

Got around to watching this “Hands” spot from Guinness, which is quite an innovative display of hand origami if I’ve ever seen one. Granted, it doesn’t have much to do with beer (or drinking, judging by the dexterity shown here), but I still liked it. I even enjoyed the accompanying song, which is a rarity for me. But did anyone else notice the split-second middle fingers about halfway through the ad? Just wait until the pedants who held Prince’s guitar pose under a microscope get hold of it. UPDATE: Here’s a microsite connected to the spot, with behind-the-scenes footage and more.

—Posted by David Kiefaber

Published on April 26, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
Filed under Alcohol, Guinness, Kiefaber

Two great tastes that taste great together

First, there was peanut butter and chocolate. Now, we’ve got Guinness and Marmite, two acquired tastes that can only improve when mixed together. Marmite is making about 300,000 special-edition jars of this stuff in time for St. Patrick’s Day. Perhaps they can mash up the advertising, too. (“Good things come to those who either love it or hate it”?) And we thought Marmite’s squeezable bottle was cool. From Cool Hunting via YesButNoButYes.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on February 21, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Filed under Guinness, Marmite, Nudd

501 more reasons to drink Guinness

Nice idea, great placement. I’ve always been pretty decent at darts after exactly two beers. Hopefully these things are actually on sale somewhere. I can find various Guinness dartboards in Web stores, but not this one. Via Goodness.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on September 21, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Filed under Alcohol, Guinness, Nudd

Irish homebodies take note: Guinness is just as tasty with a TV dinner

So, it seems Guinness is having a bit of a home-field disadvantage these days, as more and more Irish drinkers are staying in. Considering that Guinness built its brand on the beauty of a settling draught pint, you see how this could be a problem. The Guardian today reported that sales were down 9 percent last year, a drop the company attributes to drinkers trading smokeless bars for smoky living rooms. On Monday, the company launched this ad, which aims to make a place for canned Guinness in people’s refrigerators. Of course, they could have told folks to get out of the house, but then no one would be home to read the brand’s new blog.

—Posted by Deanna Zammit

Published on February 17, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (1)
Filed under Guinness

Good things come to those who evolve

The new Guinness evolution spot that we mentioned earlier this month is out. (Once you’re on the site, click next to the arrow to launch the media player.) It shows Guinness drinkers devolving backward through time, going through their awkward caveman phase and finally becoming microscopic creatures in a pool of primordial soup, indicating just how long they’ve been waiting for the perfect pint. The cool visuals reminded us of some of the evolution footage in Adaptation. A nice touch is the music: Cy Coleman’s “The Rhythm of Life,” from the musical Sweet Charity. The returning tagline: “Good things come to those who wait.”

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on October 19, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Filed under Alcohol, Guinness, Nudd

The toucan comes to those who wait

The pint-balancing Guinness toucan is a resilient bird. Created for Guinness in 1935 by artist John Gilroy of ad agency SH Benson, it has been resurrected time and time again since then. Particularly cool were the J. Walter Thompson posters from the late ’70s and early ’80s, like the top image shown here. (The Guinness Web site has plenty of vintage ads that you can sort through by medium and decade.) The toucan is now back once again, in outdoor ads from Guinness’s current U.K. agency, AMV BBDO in London, promoting the brewer’s claim that all draught Guinness now served in the U.K. is brewed in Ireland. In other Guinness news, AMV’s new TV spots for the brand break this month, and they sound great. (We’re searching for them as we speak.) They reportedly show Guinness drinkers who, as they wait for their pints to settle, evolve backward through time into microscopic creatures in a pool of primordial soup—suggesting that human evolution (at least on the male side) has been driven by little more than the quest for the perfect pint. An earlier tagline, “Good things come to those who wait,” is back, too. And finally, to see one of the greatest ads ever, Guinness’s “Surfer” spot, visit AMV’s site, click on “Ads,” then “TV” and click on the drawing of the pint of Guinness. Here’s to waiting!

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on October 3, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Filed under Alcohol, BBDO, Guinness, Nudd