Comment by Michael B. Moore on January 1, 2012 at 3:02pm

This is another one of those ads that is brilliant in so many ways . . . except, in the way that matters most - that it is a strategic piece of brand building communication.  

This is actually awesome nano-cinema!  The Big Creative Idea behind it is brilliant.  The acting is great.  It is beautifully shot.  It just doesn't work hard enough for Jim Beam.  In fact, it actually works harder for Greyhound than JB!  

Inexplicably, we see Greyhound both early and late in the spot.  Until the very last moment it looks like these are Greyhound brand bookends.  Kind of "creative" and subtle using old buses/logos in a Greyhound spot, but certainly plausible.  Furthermore,  with the choices of Manhattan or Milwaukee on the two buses, one could logically fathom that the commercial is exploring choices from a geographic perspective - and the impact that they can have on your life.  It is rather perplexing why the folks running Jim Beam would agree to put someone else's brand in their commercial to a greater degree than their own.  In what way does this level of Greyhound presence actually build the Jim Beam brand?  (I can hear a creative arguing that the Greyhound presence on the bus underscores a national brand bus lines taking someone far away to NYC versus the unbranded local bus lines, but that hand is significantly overplayed and has serious consequences for JB.)

That said, I really love the way the ad explores the duality of life.  The notion that the decisions we make impact where we end up in life is both true, but also extremely rich emotional territory with which to connect with consumers.  I would guess that this area is particularly resonant with the middle aged men who probably represent the core of the JB business. The ad infers that making the decision for Jim Beam is a part of a "better" decision.  It may also, subtly, be presenting Jim Beam as something of a palliative to those who may have made some of those "worse" decisions in their lives.  They may have screwed up before, but Jim Beam is a way to get things back on track.

The climax of the spot shows the protagonist’s final decision.  It is characterised as a "bold choice".  The copy says bold choices "take you to where you're supposed to be".  It shows that choice being the Greyhound to Manhattan.  Curiously, the spot then fades to a shot of Jim Beam and the copy "Bold Choice".  The viewer is led to believe that in the same way that the man's destination decision is bold, so is the decision to choose Jim Beam.  But if I'm JB, do I really want my brand compared in so literal a way to a patently pedestrian brand like Greyhound?  Couldn't there have been some more decidedly bold choices that the ad could have explored?  How about some choices that are both bold, but also consistent with some other aspects of the Jim Beam brand?  Is “bold” the most compelling thing about JB?  Is this the most aspirational way for Jim Beam to connect with their consumers?

The advertising is beautifully written.  The idea is compelling.  Willem Dafoe is a great cast for this.  It has some of the greatest emotional resonance that I've seen in an ad in a long time.  It just doesn’t do an effective job of presenting Jim Beam as the unique solution to the challenge of the spot.  It doesn’t do a good enough job of creating awareness of Jim Beam;  IMO Jim Beam doesn't actually “own” the spot.   (How many times would one have to see this before making the connection that its a Jim Beam ad?  You'd remember the over-all ad, Willem Dafoe, and Greyhound far before JB.)  These shortcomings, among the most important responsibilities of advertising, are unfortunate for such an otherwise great work.

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