Whisky Brand Whyte & Mackay Gets Triple Mature in Biggest TV Campaign to Date

Hot on the heels of its recent Gold award from the International Spirit Challenge 2022, Whyte & Mackay returns to TV screens with their biggest brand campaign to date.

The 30 second TVC was created by Recipe, who have worked with the brand on previous campaigns including TV sponsorship idents for Quest, and more recently ITV’s The John Bishop Show. The TV campaign is the natural next step for this evolving brand who has set out to make waves this year.

In a highly competitive market, Whyte & Mackay stands out from the competition with the whisky's distinctive triple maturation process creating a smoother, richer taste. The TV creative brings this triple maturation process to life with a performance metaphor where the actor’s delivery gets closer to the desired smoothness with each attempt.

The campaign opens on the set of the Whyte & Mackay TVC. It’s a basic studio set-up and the actor, wearing casual clothes, delivers his lines unconvincingly with hesitation and zero confidence. The director then requests a second take, where the set ‘matures’ with a build up of props and the actor’s wardrobe looking slightly more distinguished. His delivery is an improvement, smoother than the first take. However, the director says this is ‘still not enough’ and requests a third round of ‘maturation’. The third attempt sees the actor and set having matured in demeanour and appearance. Now set in an atmospheric pub, lit with warm, inviting tones, he delivers the line effortlessly and smoothly sips the whisky. Showing that it’s the triple maturation that makes all the difference, and highlights that it’s this additional process in the Whyte & Mackay whisky-making that enhances the quality of the liquid for a smoother, richer taste.

The Third Time Smooth campaign launches on the 27th of May on linear TV channels such as Sky, C4 partners and Eurosport 1 & 2. The schedule also includes some feature programming in the French Open, Formula 1, and around Sky’s new shows The Staircase and The Flight Attendant. Supported by Broadcaster VOD and digital, the campaign is set to run through until the Autumn and is planned to reach at least 21.5m adults, which is 42% of the population.

Ruairi Perry, Marketing Controller of UK brands at Whyte & Mackay said: “It was great to work with Recipe to really bring the distinctive triple maturation process that goes into making Whyte and Mackay to life. The end product is a campaign that fully encapsulates the fun and light-hearted spirit of the brand and we’re excited to share that with our consumers”.

Graeme Bowman, creative director at Recipe said: "It was a pleasure to work on a brand with such a rich history as Whyte & Mackay and to bring their triple matured story to life in such a single-minded way."

Toby Hutchins, business director at Republic of Media said: “Building on the success of AV sponsorship in the past two years, having the opportunity to use the power of linear TV to further enhance the iconic Whyte and Mackay brand is extremely exciting. We’re thrilled to be able to play a role in the continued success of such a renowned brand."