Matthew McConaughey Delivers the Bird in Wild Turkey and JWT New York’s Thanksgiving Campaign

By Erik Oster 

Everybody’s favorite “creative director” is back, and this time he’s delivering turkeys.

JWT New York and Wild Turkey worked with Matthew McConaughey to “Give Back for Thanksgiving,” in an effort designed to thank the residents of Wild Turkey’s hometown of Lawrenceburg, Kentucky for their support over the years.

Wild Turkey named the actor as its brand creative director and JWT New York as its agency of record last summer. When we last checked in with advertising’s highest paid creative director, it was for this past summer’s lackluster “Sang Our Song.”

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When your brand is called Wild Turkey, it makes sense to go big for Thanksgiving. So on November 4, his 48th birthday, McConaughey teamed up with a group of volunteers to help the brand deliver 4,500 turkeys around Wild Turkey’s hometown of Lawrenceburg, Kentucky.

Predictably, many of the town’s residents were a bit starstruck to see such a famous creative director delivering the backbone of their Thanksgiving meal.

“In one of our very first conversations, Master Distillers Jimmy and Eddie Russell told me that the town of Lawrenceburg is what keeps the Wild Turkey family running,” McConaughey said in a statement. “The support system in this community is amazing – in one form or another, everyone has some kind of relationship with Wild Turkey – and that’s why we were so grateful to have the resources to give back and say thanks to Lawrenceburg residents. We thought, let’s give everyone a turkey, one less thing for them to worry about this season.”

“Lawrenceburg has been our home for generations, and the people who live here support our passion for making great whiskey every day,” added Wild Turkey master distiller Jimmy Russell. “We wanted to say thanks to Lawrenceburg this Thanksgiving and to encourage people around the country to do what they can to assure no one goes hungry this holiday.”

In addition to the 4,500 turkeys delivered to every home in Lawrenceburg, the brand also delivered 580 turkeys to the local food band and nursing home and donated 50,000 Thanksgiving meals to families in need through Share Our Strength.

The turkeys for the promotion were donated by Butterball.

“Wild Turkey and Matthew McConaughey’s commitment to the community really touched us and we were happy to join together to help the cause,” Butterball chief marketing officer Bill Klump said in a statement. “Everyone deserves a great meal on Thanksgiving and Butterball is proud to be able help put a meal on a table for any family that might otherwise not be able to enjoy one.”

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