Woodsman - Well Earned - Video

How do you craft a whisky campaign for people who don’t really drink whisky?

The Woodsman is a contemporary blended scotch from Scottish drinks company Whyte & Mackay. An easy drinking, highly mixable whisky, targeted to a younger, less ‘sophisticated’ whisky drinking audience. One that has little interest in traditional whisky advertising.

In a category beset by indistinguishable ads, full of craftsmanship, rolling heather and reflective sophistication, we set out to craft a campaign that stood well apart from the rest.

Our idea was to position Woodsman as a drink that is “Well Earned”. A reward for a good honest day’s graft. An idea that really resonates with our audience of “life’s doers”, and reflective of the hands-on woodcraft at the heart of the product, which is matured in double-scorched ex-Bourbon barrels to give it extra depth.

To bring this to life, Mr. President decided there was no better mascot for the brand than the hardest-working wood chopper in the forest - the beaver.

Enter Barry the Beaver and his hard working beaver friends. Here to celebrate life’s doers and reward them in the only way they know how - with a well-earned glass of Woodsman Whisky.

The brand’s first major TV ad follows our group of long-toothed beavers in their natural habitat as they roll their sleeves up and get to work, chopping down trees, gnawing on bark, carrying planks and hammering nails.

As beaver brows are mopped we see a bottle of the Woodsman Whisky being opened and a drink being poured, to celebrate what they’ve been beavering away on - a steaming, bubbling riverside hot tub.

Barry, the beaver leader, raises a well-earned glass of Woodsman Whisky as the other beavers enjoy a rewarding soak in the bubbles.

Already dubbed the “World’s most effective Whisky ad” by Andrew Tindall of System1 Research, scoring an Exceptional 4.8/5 Star Rating. The ridiculously distinctive TV campaign will be supported by OOH, VOD, social and online in the UK and across Europe.