Kingsman bourbon based on real thing
Spy film’s sequel incorporates Old Forester’s brand, history with a splash of authenticity
An early scene in the coming movie Kingsman: The Golden Circle, the sequel to the hit starring Colin Firth and Samuel L. Jackson, unfolds in a cave and involves the discovery of a dusty safe filled with amber bottles of old bourbon.
It was an ideal spot for a product placement. But the director, Matthew Vaughn, took that common commercial device and reversed it.
What is in the safe is Statesman bourbon, a spinoff of the long-standing Old Forester brand produced by Brown-Forman of Louisville, Ky., since 1870. It is not a fictional spirit: Statesman bourbon has been quietly appearing on liquor store shelves since spring.
By introducing its product before the release of the movie, Old Forester is not only hoping to capitalize on the cachet of the Kingsman characters discussing and enjoying Statesman bourbon. It is also trying to establish what marketers are seeking more than ever: authenticity.
“This is authentic storytelling with the product in there,” Vaughn said. “I think this is the future of advertising.”
It is not an entirely new concept for Vaughn. Moviegoers who admired the dapper style of Firth and his fellow spies in the original, Kingsman: The Secret Service, could buy the clothes through a collaboration between the filmmakers and the clothing website Mr Porter.
Vaughn said he and Jane Goldman wrote the sequel’s script to revolve around Kentucky distillers whose products predated Prohibition. When he happened to bump into a cousin of Campbell Brown, president of Old Forester, at a cocktail party, an idea was hatched to incorporate the brand, which claims to be the oldest bourbon in continuous production on the market.
“Product placement I won’t do,” Vaughn said. “What’s really important to me is keeping it so real.”
Hence Statesman. Characters in the film — played by, among others, Channing Tatum and Jeff Bridges — will produce, drink and discuss the bourbon. To make those moments seem as genuine as possible, it had to become a reality.
“It just fit well — it wasn’t something we had to make up,” Brown said. “To have that as a fundamental story line that fit so neatly with our own history makes it a welcome and unique opportunity to partner.”
The bourbon, which became widely available this month, well before the Sept. 22 release of the movie, is its own product.
Jackie Zykan, Old Forester’s master taster, chose barrels from the warmest parts of the company’s warehouses to produce what Brown described as a “character-rich” flavour, at 95 proof.
“We wanted to make sure whatever we bottled and sell fit the world that was presented in Kingsman,” he said.
Matching the fictionalized world with something that consumers can experience — beyond the suspended reality of the theatre — is where product placement seems to be heading, said Nancy Hansell, brand strategist at Siegel & Gale.
“What brands and media properties are doing really well today is creating more of the universe — an immersive experience you get to participate in,” Hansell said.
“They’re allowing consumers and fans to participate in the world that they’re creating. I think that’s the future.”
It does not come without risk. Old Forester needed to make, market and sell products well before the public could even grasp the tie-in to the movie.
And then there is always a gamble about how well the movie will do. Kingsman: The Secret Service grossed more than $400 million (U.S.) world- wide, so it may be a worthy gamble.
Another risk is that the movie product will not align with the real-world product in a way that seems authentic to the brand. It is the risk of being labelled gimmicky or a sellout. And with a product like bourbon, whose fans tend to be choosy about their spirits, that is a particularly salient concern.
Steve Coomes, a spirits writer based in Louisville who reviewed the bourbon for the website The Whiskey Wash, said he has long been a fan of Old Forester’s products, but was not quite as enamored of Statesman.
“It really flattened out to me,” Coomes said.
“Instead of char and oak, I was getting ash. Instead of the balance and roundness that I’m used to from that brand, it just was flat.”
But Coomes added that, though Statesman might not have fit his palate, he could still applaud Old Forester’s effort to generate a fresh, unique product that was thoughtfully conceived and executed. It also indicated Brown-Forman’s willingness to experiment to reach a younger audience, as it often does with the Jack Daniels brand.
“It doesn’t seem forced,” Coomes said. “This is not like trying to wriggle into The Hunger Games.”
Brown said the Statesman bourbon was not created as a “quick in, quick out” product to simply take advantage of the success of the movie.
“This brand has never been about gimmicks,” he said.
“It’s always been about the process and our ability to deliver an excellent product at an accessible price. We weren’t going to deviate from that.”
Because consumers are becoming savvier, the stakes have become higher for brands trying to gain exposure in creative ways.
“You need to figure out what is the most authentic brand that people are going to want to interact with,” Hansell said. “The brand needs to feel like something the characters would be proud of. If it feels like a direct line of the media property, it instantly becomes a different thing.”