YO! NATE UNIQUE (tronwell?) IN KVILLE

shameless self promotion BUT I’ll be Djing in Knoxville, Tennessee tomorrow night.
what can the intertubes expect? mostly a new set of mixes culled from playing in iowa with dan deacon a few weeks ago and this little jaunt (secretly this is mostly a BBQ expedition).

BUT if you happen to be a southern belle reading this come show a little ankle:

otherwise i’ll be posting some new jammmz here in the week after I get back.
HLLR!
<3

Perhaps it is because I live a somewhat “digital” life, or the fact that my commute doesn’t really provide for a chance to flip through papers, magazines or the like… Whatever the reason I guess it is no surprise that it wasn’t until the environmental component of the new Canadian Club campaign launched that I became aware of these wonderfully cheeky ads. I noticed it popping up at bus stops along Damen Ave; and I was smitten at first sight.

You’ve probably seen them, Energy BBDO’s new effort to elevate Canadian Club into the whiskey that your Dad DID drink. Full of heady innuendo that your pops was van driving Lothario that bagged strange by the backseat-full. With creative that smacks of the little known spin off “Wonders Years: After Hours” as viewed through the lens of an unwashed highball glass with a thin wash of Canadian Club lingering on the bottom (aka vintage simplicity, hazy family memories of men being MEN). In reality the images used in the ads are taken from the albums of actual employees of Beam Global (the parent company). It makes me want to take a trip to my parents basement, see what kind of treasures are hiding in those stacks of albums.

Does this campaign work?

Stylistically-simply put-yes. I think it is creative and eye catching. While it’s subject matter may alienate some, it is decidedly trying to wedge itself into the market as the “mans” drink. If it steps on some toes, offends some nobler sensibilities then…so be it. Overall I think that all the components of the ad work well together. Some have said that the use of ‘cocktails’ in the copy is out of place, particularly that it belies the overt macho tones in the rest of the copy. While I don’t think this is totally without merit, it is in keeping with the rest of the ad, these drinks were and are cocktails. That they are ‘whiskey cocktails’ keeps them I suppose keeps them safely masculine.

What about the bottom line?

I’m not going to switch my whiskey drinking, but according to Ad Age, enough other people are to consider this a success.

The early returns suggest it may be working. Case volume of Canadian Club in food, drug and liquor stores rose 4.4% in the 13 weeks ending March 8, outpacing the category and its dominant brand, Diageo’s Crown Royal, during the same stretch, according to AC Nielsen data.

Those gains may sound modest, but in the context of Canadian Club’s performance over the past two decades, they border on a revelation. Case shipments fell from 3.9 million in 1980 to 1.5 million in 1995, trickling down to 1.3 million last year, according to Impact’s Annual Spirits Study.

WOW. So this simple, well crafted primarily PRINT (!!) campaign is working. Its not viral, but it does have word of mouth (the original viral?); it is sure of itself and kind of cocky. These ads might try and play a little game of grab ass after a long lunch and one too many cocktails but, shit, sometimes you want to hang out with that guy.

When it is all said and done kudos to BBDO, once again they show excellent prowess for delivering imaginative and unique creative. I’ll tip back a cocktail to that.