D’Arcy is unveiling its debut TV and cinema work for Southern
Comfort this week, relaunching the spirit brand to give it a more
up-to-date image.
The pounds 3 million pan-European campaign, entitled ’colour story’,
will break first in the UK and then in Germany and Greece.
The 40-second spot follows a man’s stressful walk down a busy street in
New Orleans. Along the way, he encounters scenes of anger and jealousy,
witnessing two men arguing furiously and a policewoman staring enviously
at another woman’s sports car. In each case, the words ’red is anger’
and ’green is envy’ appear on screen.
The scene culminates when the man enters a welcoming, amber-lit bar,
where he is at once surrounded by a group of friends. The words, ’amber
is Southern Comfort’ appear on screen. The ad introduces the new
endline, ’takes you to a warmer place’.
Southern Comfort is owned by Brown-Forman and distributed in the UK by
IDV. Bob Krall, Brown-Forman’s area vice-president for the UK, Ireland
and the Netherlands, said: ’’Colour story’ allows us to update our image
and leverage our product’s mood, colour and distinctive taste
delivery.’
The commercial was written and art directed by Nick Hastings, the
creative director at D’Arcy, and directed by Daryl Goodrich through
Experience.
Media planning and buying are being handled by MediaVest.
’Consumers always talk about Southern Comfort’s warming affect. The ad
dramatises this by contrasting the colder atmosphere on the street with
the friendliness of the environment where Southern Comfort is typically
enjoyed,’ Hastings said.
D’Arcy picked up the Southern Comfort account in 1997 after a three-way
pitch against Bates Dorland and J. Walter Thompson. Its first work was a
pan-European press and poster campaign which broke in May this year and
marked an end to the emphasis on the brand’s Deep South heritage.
The brand was previously handled by Court Burkitt & Company.
