Heaven Hill Brands is capitalising on National Bourbon Heritage Month with its latest marketing push for American whiskey brand Elijah Craig.
The global campaign, which launched this week, is centred around the two spellings of whiskey/whisky. Professional golfer & Elijah Craig brand ambassador Bob MacIntyre has fronted a 24-second advert (below) “bidding to unite bourbon and scotch lovers by lobbying for a uniform spelling of the word”.
For all of this month, Heaven Hill has opened a public poll on the Elijah Craig website inviting visitors to the site to vote for their preferred spelling. The result will be announced on 30 September on the brand’s Instagram page.
The activation follows a similar campaign aligned with International Whisk(e)y Day on 27 March, where MacIntyre fronted a separate video ad for the brand.
“I’ve spent plenty of time on both sides of the Atlantic, and one thing I’ve learned is that great whiskey, with or without the ‘e,’ is rooted in craftsmanship, tradition and bringing people together,” MacIntyre said. “As a proud Scot, I’ll always be fond of my scotch whisky roots, but in the spirit of bourbon’s US heritage and bringing whiskey lovers together, I think the ‘e’ deserves its place.”
Last year, Heaven Hill hired MacIntyre and fellow professional golfer J.T. Poston as ambassadors for Elijah Craig, backing the partnerships with a Ryder Cup-themed campaign. The activation included media placements in golf publications, consumer contests and in-store displays, among “other multi-media marketing efforts”.
