In time for the holidays, Anomaly launched a “Seeing Blind” spot for Crown Royal featuring Major Scotty Smiley, who served as the U.S. Army’s first blind commander after losing his eyesight to a car bomb explosion in Iraq.
It’s part of the “Living Generously” campaign, which Anomaly launched for the brand earlier this month after winning lead creative duties on Diageo’s Crown Royal and Buchanan’s Scotch brands a few months ago. This time around, Anomaly and Crown Royal aim to give Smiley the experience of “Seeing Blind,” via descriptive language provided courtesy of poet Matthew Dickman. Utilizing iVue glasses outfitted with a camera that livestreamed Smiley’s visual field to Dickman, the poet then relied descriptions of what he was seeing back to Smiley, allowing him to picture his Pasco, Washington hometown in ways he hadn’t in years.
The spot ends with the message, “Too often generosity goes unrewarded. We’re making it our mission to change that,” and the tagline, “Live generously and life will treat you royally.”
For its part, the brand is attempting to put its money where its mouth is, donating $10,000 to the Blinded Veterans Association. In addition to the full-length version of the spot, there’s also a 30-second ad which entices viewers to get the full story. The effort, which should find viewers especially receptive to its charitable message during the holiday season, gives an indication of what to expect from Anomaly’s future efforts for the brand, as it seems we can expect the agency to focus on a different individual and related charity for future spots and, thankfully, not reprise the approach seen in “Smoove.”
CREDITS
Brand: Crown Royal
Campaign: Live Generously
Spots / Creative: “Seeing Blind” “Seeing Blind Teaser :30”
Client(s):
James Thompson, Diageo North America CMO
Sophie Kelly, Sr. Vice President of North American Whiskies
Jim Ruane, Crown Royal Brand Director
Dany Penn, Crown Royal Brand Manager
Jamie Hakim, PR, Entertainment & Influencer Marketing
Brittany Brown, Director, Consumer Planning & Research, North American Whiskies
Agency: Anomaly
Talent: Veteran: Scott Smiley
Veteran’s wife: Tiffany Smiley
Poet: Matthew Dickman
Production Co.: Good Company
Director: Scott Cudmore
Executive Producer(s): Brian Welsh
Producer: Stacey Thiel
Managing Director: Ryan Heiferman
Editor: Robert Lopuski
Editorial Company: Good Company
Mix Sound Company: Mr. Bronx Audio