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Will Guinness’ ad stem toppling sales?

Posted in Advertising, Creative, Oliver Milman, Latest reporters' blogs November 12th, 2007 by Oliver Milman

Guinness will be pleased with the media hoopla surrounding its new domino-themed ad campaign, but will it really help topple drinkers’ increasing aversion to beer and stout?

UK sales of the fizzy stuff have been on a slow but steady decline in recent years. Brands have obviously decided they need to press gang consumers with big-spending ad campaigns – witness Stella Artois’ recent epic, Lord of the Rings-style efforts.

Guinness, of course, is well-known for its eye-catching ads. We’ve had horses cavorting with surfers and fish on bicycles.

Sadly, there are no animals in odd places in this new spot. The director of Sony Bravia’s lavishly-praised Balls ad, Nicolai Fuglsig, was signed up to work his magic, but with a domino twist this time around.

Set in an Argentinean village deep in the Andes, a long line of objects, ranging from fridges to lawnmowers, are knocked over in turn. Gap-toothed villagers cheer wildly as they line the route of the spectacle.

The spot finishes with a mountain of books fluttering wildly as the last ‘domino’ hits it. The tagline is, as before, ‘Good things come to those who wait.’ AMV.BBDO, the ad agency involved, will see this as a certainty for the show reel.

It’s a pretty impressive spectacle, all in all. Guinness breathlessly tells us that this was the “biggest and most expensive” ad it has ever created, and it shows. It certainly doesn’t look out of place with its previous efforts.

However, in the face of falling sales, will beer brands do anything different from ‘bigger and better’ ads?

It’s noticeable that while food and soft drink producers have attempted to tap in on changing consumer trends by underlining healthy credentials, the likes of Guinness, Stella and the rest haven’t even given a cursory nod to the issue. Sensible drinking? Why yes, of course. Healthy drinking? Er, no. But you look really cool!

Time for a change of tack maybe?