Williem Defoe

I've always thought Williem Defoe was a totally kick ass actor. I can't think of a movie I have seen him in where he doesn't give a completely fantastic performance. He is in a new Jim Beam ad which Is sincerely the classiest ad for liquor I have seen, possibly the classiest ad for anything which I have seen.



The Jim Beam "bold choice" slogan is pretty stupid at face value. I like Jim Beam a lot, but don't consider Burbon a "bold" drink choice. Though to be fire I was drinking, by choice, a Prairie Fire at a bar last night, so the problem probably lies with me and not Jim Beam's marketers.

For those of you who do not drink drinks that could also be used as effective nail polish remover, I should explain that a Prairie Fire is Tequila mixed with Tobasco sauce.

I also use Tabasco as a sports drink, and like Gatorade it comes in six flavors that all taste pretty much the same.

Getting back to Williem Defoe, I think the ad, especially with Defore seemlessly inhabiting every one of his roles in it, really sells "Bold Choice" as a slogan. I still think it is kind of a hokey slogan, but the ad is so well done from its cinematography to the makeup for Defoe, and has a really great flow to it. It would stand on its own as an exemplary short film if it didn't end with the Jim Beam logo. So the fact that they were able to use this theme of "Bold choice" to make an ad which is this down right inspiring does a lot to elevate my opinion of the slogan.

Advertising is inherently about commerce, but every once in a while an ad like this comes about which elevates the medium to exist as a form of artistic expression that just happens to be selling you a product.