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Woollams Moira Gaskin O’Malley

Campaign created by Gerry Moira

With all respect we wouldn’t have started from here. Authenticity and provenance are key to this market and “Mustang” has more than a whiff of the marketing department about it. Jack Daniels and Jim Beam both have appropriate Southern Gentlemen credentials but Mustang? We must work with what we have.

The brief’s request to position Mustang as a “session drink” is fraught with problems lest we be seen to promote “serial drinking”. The safest route is often to follow the path of symbolism. To this end we have lifted a chunk out of John Huston’s film The Misfits, specifically the scene where Clark Gable’s attempts to rope a wild mustang are witnessed by a sobbing Marilyn Monroe. Huston’s handling of the “free spirit” is about as subtle as a baseball bat, but that’s handy, as are the images of Fifties’ Americana. It gives Mustang some credible provenance and differentiates us from those Confederate boys sippin’ mint juleps on the front porch.

Getting the imagery right is only half the problem. Sol was just another Mexican beer until someone stuck a wedge of lime in it. We need to develop a new drinking ritual for Mustang other than just a mixer or straight. Research among blue-collar Americans suggests bourbon is often used as a chaser with beer. We would depict this macho behaviour in among our borrowed Misfit footage. This novel pattern also gives a fitting endline for our commercial: “Mustang. If you don’t chase it, you won’t get it.”