Saturday, March 12, 2011

Modern Age Scotch Ads

Some of my longer readers may recall that I did an earlier post on old school scotch ads.  Perhaps not too surprising, scotch was marketed almost exclusively to the male audience back then.  That, I would argue, still stands true today.  To be fair, I personally do not know of too many females liking scotch.

What had changed, though, was that men of means or wealth are often the ones depicted in the ads.  This created a elitist, almost snobbish, view on the drink.  As the years gone by, this aspect has certainly withered down a little, with the ads perhaps trying to target a wider audience.  The challenge they face here is how to escape that snobbish/elitist stigma that was attached to scotch in the past, yet not bringing down too far that it cheapens the drink.

Modern age scotch ads generally have a, well, modern feel to it.  More specifically, it usually involves a dark background, with the object of interest in bold gold colors.  Design is kept simple, minimalistic, with few distractions.  People are seldom depicit in the ads.  Instead, they are replaced with "actions".  Actions such as pouring the drink, clinking glasses, and stuff of that nature. 

Anyway, here are some of the ads that I gathered.  Feel free to compare the difference between the two generations of scotch ads:





63 comments:

  1. I really like that first one. Also, it makes sense that they would keep the golden coloring. It still implies some level of wealth.

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  2. I prefer the old, snobbish, slightly sexist ones.

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  3. last one looks best, very clean looking

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  4. the champagne one is awesome :)

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  5. Haha, I love the Johnny Walker one. I'm sort of relieved they didn't unnecessarily tailor their marketing to some younger crowd with some stupid slogan.

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  6. Why are scotch ads so damn classy lookin'....

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  7. Really really love your blog. Thanks for the comment also. I'm an amateur scotch drinker myself; I haven't had much experience beyond Johnnie Walker Black (and a couple of Blue). My friend highly recommends Lagavulin, what do you think of it?

    Also, about your offer in regards to your wife; I'm fairly sure that things happening differently in America than Australia, but I was wondering about the medicine interview; any tips or things like that? How should I prepare?

    Thanks a bunch. :)

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  8. at what age did you start liking sctoch?
    I tried it for the first time at 14, could barely stomach it, tried it again when I was 20 sampled a 4 or 5 bottles but still didn't enjoy drinking it.

    www.famishedstudent.blogspot.com

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  9. I like the first ad u posted a lot. very nice looking

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  10. Hey, don't worry about it, I don't exactly advertise I'm Australian (I'm thinking of doing med in America anyway).

    Regarding the scotch, I'm not sure if it's similar, but I sometimes enjoy lapsang souchong tea, which is intensively smokey. I also enjoy a tobacco pipe when I visit a friend once every two or three months.

    I wonder if these would contribute to me enjoying the Lagavulin? It is $90 a bottle here, which is more than I'd care to spend on something I wouldn't enjoy, haha.

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  11. This is a really classy blog...you got my support!

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  12. I have never paid attention to these kind of ads, but it's interesting to know

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  13. The shoe one is definitely 'keeping it classy'.

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  14. sweet,,, makes me want to drink LOL

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  15. wow, chivas regal ad looks great! :o

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  16. Neat. I like the Johnny Walker one the best, I think. Simple art and a vague suggestion of alcoholism.

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  17. I agree these aren't the stuffy scotch ads of old. There have been several Spanish Johnny Walker commercials down here in Latin America, I should try to record one or two of them for your material.

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  18. the J&B one is my least favorite, it looks more like a mix between a fruit drink and a beer ad. Most of the rest are just fine though.

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  19. I wouldn't drink out of a shoe... ;)

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  20. Those ads are pretty nice. Very classy looking and sophisticated. Got me sold.

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  21. haha yeah old snobbish slightly sexist ads are the best

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  22. still pumping out great posts i see. i just posted a new article and looked in the recent posts and yours was only 1 hour ago. crazy.

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  23. The johnny walker one is best in my opinion.

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  24. I love scotch... scotchy scotch scotch

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  25. The johnny walker pub is so awesome :P

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  26. I love the first pic as well...very creative and relevant to what its advertising

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  27. I like the modern stuff.

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  28. those make me want to become an alcoholic

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  29. Gotta love the glass slipper.

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  30. This blog makes me wanna get drunk. Keep it up!

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  31. The johnny walker one is badass!

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  32. I like the old ones with the illustrations better

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  33. Some really classy ads, I like them.

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  34. Ahaha I like the Johnny Walker one, great post!

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  35. I'm not a drinker myself but cool!

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  36. I Love Scotch. Scotchy, Scotch, Scotch. Here It Goes Down, Down Into My Belly.

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  37. It's good they started to advertise towards more broad audience. Also, glad you're feeling better.

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  38. they almost made me think it DOESNT taste like ass. nope still tastes like ass

    folllowing n $upporting

    therichesthappiest.blogspot.com

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  39. Scotch is a man's drink. I swear, it's better for you than milk.

    Following and Supporting your blog :D

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  40. I love how they preserved the image of scotch being classy without having it ooze pretentiousness or elitism.

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  41. Hmmm. I think I'm a bit of a fan of the "elitist look" to it if for no other reason than they produce interesting ads. Here, I personally am a fan of the Glenlivet and Macallan. Very simple but elegant.

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  42. the second ad it just amazing. really classy and great use of the colours. overall i gotta say, i am not much of a scotch drinker myself but most of these ads look so damn great that i really want to be one

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  43. They are all very "classical", only black and dark colors. interesting

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  44. I rpetty much like all of them except the JB one...

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  45. j walker my fav!

    http://all-around-toto.blogspot.com

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  47. I love the Johnny Walker one!

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