Glenlivet gets in a second round

Last November, the whisky brand launched its 'Original by Tradition' messaging with Breaking Walls, a genius spot created by CPB London, with Tom Noakes directing through PRETTYBIRD. 

Exploring the product’s history of rule-breaking – from its origins in illegal distilleries to forward-facing marketing as a cocktail contender – the dazzling spot featured walls being literally smashed through, using practical, CGI-less special effects. 

Now, the same team has created Against the Tide, which continues the renegade theme, with founder George Smith once again breaking down barriers and forging a new path through fusty whisky fundamentalism. Here though, his journey through time towards a contemporary cocktail bar is along a giant, 20-metre long, five-metre high treadmill. 

Dave Day, ECD at CPB London commented: “The notion of a difficult second album couldn’t be more relevant here. After the success of Breaking Walls, the bar was set fairly high. So, this time around not only did we raise the bar, literally! We put it on a moving treadmill, along with a life-size bothy, and men on stilts, surrounded by fog, with glass cubes and a 15ft-high concrete wall!
Difficult? Yes. But definitely worth it.”