W+K London launched a new anthem ad for vodka brand Finlandia, featuring advice from some “less ordinary” sources.
The “1,00o years” of the title refers to the combined age of the offbeat individuals offering up nuggets of wisdom. These include a drag wrestler advising, “Be nobody’s bitch but your own,” 93-year-old fashion icon Iris Apfel claiming “Too old is a lousy excuse” and kinetic sculptor Theo Jansen saying “Get your ideas out of your head.” The only one of these that is readily applicable to the brand is a mixologist who quips, “Life is too short for bad drinks.” There’s plenty of interesting individuals and wisdom over the course of the ad, but the overall approach feels like a pretty ordinary anthem ad (to say nothing of the ridiculousness of connecting the quotes to a vodka brand). And at over two minutes long, one piece of wisdom that could have benefited the ad is Shakespeare’s “Brevity is the soul of wit.”
Credits:
Client: Finlandia
Agency: Wieden + Kennedy London
Creative directors: Scott Dungate, Graeme Douglas
Copywriter: Paddy Treacy
Art director: Mark Shanley
Executive creative directors: Tony Davidson, Iain Tait
Executive producer: Danielle Stewart
Group account director: Paulo Salomao
Account director: Matt Owen
Account manager: Sophie Lake
Head of planning: Beth Bentley
Planning director: Martin Beverley
TV producer: Michelle Brough
Production company: Knucklehead
Director: Siri Bunford
Executive producer: Matthew Brown
Director of photography: Ben Smithard
Editorial companies: Lucky Cat, Whitehouse Post
Editors: Xavier Perkins, Lucky Cat; Adam Marshall, Whitehouse Post
Post producer: Anandi Peiris
VFX company: MPC
VFX supervisor: Bill McNamara
Flame artist: Bill McNamara
VFX producer: Anandi Peiris
Grade: MPC
Colorist: Matthieu Toullet
Titles/graphics: Ryan Teixeira
Music/sound company: Factory
Sound designers: Anthony Moore, Phil Bollard
Song: Undeniable, Richie Sosa
Interactive producer: Dom Felton
Director of relations: Marta Bobic
PR manager: Charlotte Corbett