Whiskey AdWatch: Johnny Walker’s “Walk”

Make no mistake about it: I loves my whiskey. If it’s good enough for old grizzled men with near constant five-o-clock shadows to sip while complaining about the horrors of life in the darkened parts of bars, then goddamnit, it’s good enough for me.

There’s something about the long tradition of whiskey, the process and amount of time it takes to distill the beverage, that affects the advertising. Instead of spring break models chugging it or a racially diverse group in their late 20s/early 30s passing it around the campfire, the ads always focus on the history behind the specific brand it’s selling. So it’s no surprise that Johnny Walker chose to focus on its own history as a selling point. What is surprising is that they did it so well. (Also that they gave Robert Carlyle his best role since Trainspotting.)

The 5-and-a-half minute ad [via The Awl]seems daunting at first – no one wants to even watch the 30-second ones in between TV shows, let alone one that’s ten times as long? – but trust me, once you get into the first 30 seconds or so, it’s going to be tough to stop it. Now if you’ll excuse me, I think it’s time to pour myself a drink.