Johnnie Walker is a brave advertiser. It has produced some strikingly different work and this time it has captured the mood of the moment perfectly with a fascinating metaphor in a new international campaign by AlmapBBDO, inspired by and featuring John “Danny” Olivas, an astronaut who has experienced isolation in outer space twice.
The bulk of the 2.30 minute film is a gripping experience of outer space travel woven with a range of emotions that directors, Ian Ruschel and Gabriel & Quemuel, threaded into the story particularly well. The point of the film – a promise of the joy of possibilities when Covid isolation ends – is underlined by the voiceover that reveals itself to be Oliver’s. He states, “Life will be full of possibilities again. That’s what I felt and that’s what you will feel. Take it fropm me, I’m Dan Olivas, and I know what it’s like to be isolated from the world.”
“With this campaign, Johnnie Walker manages to uphold the Keep Walking spirit and to take a step further in telling a 200-year story that has always been about looking at the future and the possibilities it brings. As it focuses on the value of the great small pleasures of everyday life, the movie inspires us all. It also relies on diversity, this contemporary imperative, featuring as protagonists a black actress and a real astronaut of Mexican descent,” stated Paulo Costa, marketing vice president at Diageo.
The film is part of Johnnie Walker’s 200th anniversary celebrations that began in 2020. It will run on TV and digital channels in 2021 and includes a 120-second cutdown called Astronaut.
Luiz Sanches, chairman and chief creative officer at AlmapBBDO, commented, “the rationale behind the campaign was to focus on how we feel now and to project the sensation of taking our first steps towards the future in the analogy of how an astronaut feels as he re-enters our planet.”
The outer space scenes were partially recorded in the studio using a LED screen to simulate being among the stars, the same technology as used in such feature films as Gravity, and later combined with computer-generated images. The outdoor scenes were shot in the coastline in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Credits:
Creative Agency: AlmapBBDO
Chief Creative Officer: Luiz Sanches
Executive Creative Director: Marcelo Nogueira
Creative Directors: Fernando Duarte & Henrique Del Lama
Art Director: Breno Ribeiro
Copywriter: Marcelo Pignatari Rosa
Producers: Vera Jacinto, Diego Villas Bôas & Aline Silva
Art Buyers: Teresa Setti & Ana Cecilia
Account Management: Maysa Oliveira, Isabela Crestana & Patricia Nunes
Planning team: João Gabriel Fernandes, Mariana Corradi & Janaina Agostini
Media Team: Daniel Ribeiro, Kristin Hendrickson & Fernanda Martins
Content: Chris Mello, Eduardo Nasi & Patrícia Colombo
Production Company: Iconoclast
Directors: Ian Ruschel & Gabriel & QuemuelDirectors Of Photography: Pierre De Kerchove & Edvaldo Raw
Post Production Company: Nash
Sound Company: Jamute
Executive Sound Producer: James Pinto
Client: Diageo (Johnnie Walker)
Client Team: Gregorio Gutierrez, Paula Costa, Juliana Ballarin & Joao Victor Dos Santos
