Whisky’s Strangest and Most Outrageous Advertising Campaigns

Name: Whisky’s Strangest and Most Outrageous Advertising Campaigns
Uploaded: 2026-06-30T12:00:55+01:00
Channel: Greg
Description: For today’s blog I’m going to look at the power of advertising and list some of the strangest andmost outrageous whisky marketing campaigns in history.

Greg|

June 30, 2026

Over the years, we’ve seen a wide selection of whisky marketing and advertising campaigns. Some have been critically acclaimed, some have been panned by critics, some are just downright bizarre, and some, well, they may literally be the stuff of legend.

Recently, you may remember how I looked at one of the most popular, and surprising, collaborations in the spirits business when Glenmorangie teamed up with Hollywood legend Harrison Ford for their ‘Once Upon a Time in Scotland’ campaign. That particular marketing campaign has been receiving a lot of positive feedback over the last several months, and rightly so. It’s also reportedly helped Glenmorangie to shift even more bottles, so that’s certainly not a bad thing either.

Seeing how successful, and how well done, that campaign was, made me think about the power of marketing and advertising. When we want to market our products at GreatDrams, we aren’t blessed with the budget of Glenmorangie (although I wish we were) so we make do with what we have. This usually comes in the form of social media, trade shows, markets, festivals, press days, tastings, and things of that nature. We use them not only because they’re a whole lot of fun, but because they work.

For today’s blog I’m going to look at the power of advertising and list some of the strangest and most outrageous whisky marketing campaigns in history.

Laphroaig ‘Opinion’s Welcome’

I’m going to start off with one of my most favourite whisky marketing campaigns ever created. Seriously, I cannot say enough great things about this campaign. I love it, and for me if you’ll pardon the expression, it encapsulates the true spirit of being a whisky drinker.

Laphroaig’s ‘Opinion’s Welcome’ was initially launched back in 2014 to celebrate the brand’s 200^th birthday. Consisting of a series of short clips of around 30 seconds, the basic premise was introducing everyday members of the public to Laphroaig whisky and letting them taste it for the first time, on camera, and recording their genuine reactions.

With Laphroaig being an Islay expression, it is of course heavily peated and features those strong smoky, briny, and medicinal notes that casual drinkers may, shall we say, not be too fond of. Clips would begin with members of the public attempting to correctly pronounce the name of the whisky (and usually butchering it) before sampling the liquid gold from Islay.

Being genuine reactions, some of the results were hilarious. The one that stands out for most is ‘tastes like a burning hospital’. The idea behind this campaign is the same as that behind Marmite, in that people either love it or hate it and that Laphroaig isn’t for everybody.

Dewar’s ‘Meet the Baron’

Up next, I’ve an advert released in the early 2010s that proved extremely unpopular and received a great deal of criticism for being sexist and degrading towards women.

I have to say, after watching, I have to agree and I’m amazed that the ad got the go-ahead at the time. The dialogue feels like it was written by AI, the directing is all over the place, the story is ridiculous, and in all honesty, it would’ve felt dated in the 1970s.

The ad was supposed to appeal to young “cool” male whisky drinkers yet the attempts at humour come across as cheesy, cringe, and desperate. It focuses on ‘The Baron’ who intercepts a plus-size woman at a bar as she approaches his friend. His friend ultimately finds himself partying with a group of petite blonde Swedish bikini models instead, with the idea being that they were the much better option.

The ad was slammed for sexism, misogyny, and promoting unhealthy body image standards, and rightly so. Fantastic whisky, a great company, but a rare ‘L’ for Dewar’s when it comes to marketing.

The Macallan ‘Make the Call’

The Macallan has a reputation for being a premium whisky. In fact, for many, it is THE premium whisky. The whisky they release is exquisite, they’re responsible for some of the world’s most expensive drams, and their marketing and advertising campaigns are generally extremely professional and well done.

Back in 2018/2019 however, one of their marketing campaigns was banned by the UK ASA (Advertising Standards Agency) for promoting irresponsible behaviour whilst drinking alcohol.

Their ‘Make the Call’ campaign featured an advert with a man nervously jumping from a cliff edge before sprouting wings as he plummeted toward the ground below. While the campaign’s message was supposed to be about facing your fears and ultimately overcoming them, the ASA deemed it irresponsible, comparing it to the extreme, and highly dangerous sport of BASE jumping.

Ultimately, the ad was banned in the UK and was quickly pulled.

The Pattison’s Whisky Parrots

Earlier this month, I wrote about the Pattison Brothers and how, through negligence, account fiddling, overspending, greed, and extravagance, they nearly brought the whisky industry to its knees in the Pattison Whisky Collapse of 1898. Well, here’s a quick reminder.

Upon getting into the whisky business in the late 1800s, brothers Robert and Walter Pattison started off very promisingly. They sold decent whisky and were making good money. Unfortunately, they inflated their profits, “cooked” their books, overspent, watered down their whisky, lied to their consumers about the quality of their whisky, borrowed way too much money, and accrued enormous debts which they couldn’t repay. Upon hearing of this, the authorities stepped in and the whisky industry nearly collapsed, with multiple distilleries and firms falling into liquidation as a result. The two brothers would ultimately be jailed in 1901 for very short stints.

Before they were caught out, the brothers built a reputation for using flamboyant and aggressive marketing tactics. They’d flood the markets with branded merchandise, corporate gifts, and promotional materials that were clearly of a much higher standard than those offered by their competitors. They were able to achieve this by spending far more money on marketing than anybody else.

Their most famous campaign reportedly cost £60,000 and allegedly featured 500 African Grey parrots. The story goes that the brothers purchased 500 African Grey parrots and had them trained to squark phrases such as ‘Buy Pattison’s Whisky’ and ‘Pattison’s is Best’. The parrots would then be placed in cages and kept in pubs, bars, wine, and spirits shops across the country to help promote the whisky.

Now, I, along with others, am sceptical about this one. Some sources claim that this is indeed a legit story and that it really did happen, whereas others brush it off as a myth, urban legend, or folktale.

If you’d like to learn more about your favourite whiskies, or simply treat yourself to a dram or two in the process, head on over to GreatDrams.com and take a look at the diverse selection of unique whiskies we currently have in stock.

With an impressive selection of limited-edition, rare, and award-winning whisky, as well as heaps of whisky info on our blog, it’s the perfect spot for any whisky lovers out there.

Greg

My name is Greg, and I’m a brand strategy consultant, writer, speaker, host and judge specialising in premium spirits. My mission is to experience, share and inspire with everything great about whisky, whiskey, gin, beer and fine dining through my writing, my brand building and my whisky tastings.