'Never in a Million Years'

The octogenarian Hollywood icon that is Harrison Ford is refusing to go up the mountain just to promote Glenmorangie … until he does. The brand has thrown everything at its new 'Once Upon a Time in Scotland' campaign, but will it work? Tom Bruce-Gardyne investigates …  

Harrison Ford is weary. He has been dragged off to Scotland to shoot some whisky commercial. All he wants is a castle, a fire to relax by, a glass of Glenmorangie, and presumably a nice, fat fee - it's not a lot to ask for. Indiana Jones, Star Wars and Blade Runner were years ago, and he's told them he's not doing any of that "action-man shit", but it seems they're not listening.

So begins the most talked-about marketing campaign in Scotch-land for years, directed by the Australian actor and filmmaker, Joel Egerton, that launched in January. We follow the Hollywood actor who gets to stay at Ardross Castle – famed location of 'The Traitors', on his adventures over six episodes, with more to come later in the year.

It has bagpipes, tartan, lochs and misty mountains – it is pure Walter Scott, if not Brigadoon, and it plays to that hoary old trope of Scotch being 'an old man's drink' for sipping by the fireside. Its star is undeniably handsome, but he's no spring chicken at 82. Yet despite this, or perhaps because of this, it works – rather brilliantly, in my view.

"I think it has a certain charm to it, because it's unpretentious and just amusing," said Harrison Ford afterwards. "I think it's a tribute to Glenmorangie's sensibilities that they let us be less than totally serious." Mark Mackenzie, who co-runs the film company, Coast, agrees: "It's very memorable, and despite the budget it doesn't take itself seriously. That feels brave."

"It smartly adopts the authenticity of the very successful on-screen / off-screen persona Ford has employed for the twilight of his career," he says, describing it as a 'grumpy vulnerability'. "This, and the faux-documentary approach, gives the audience what it's already familiar with and what it wants. Everything we see feels real and believable – and for the most part it is. It's not trying too hard."

Having been to Glenmorangie tastings and faced the blizzard of exotic fruits, tobacco notes, balsamic flavours … that gushes from the lips of its master distiller, Dr Bill Lumsden, it was a relief to hear Ford's take on the whisky. When he finally collapses into a chair beside his beloved fire, all he can do is pour a dram, take a sip and mutter "Mmm … nice"

And he does so "with such dusty insouciance I defy you to try a glass of Glenmorangie and not do the same," wrote the marketing guru and brand consultant Mark Ritson in a recent article in MarketingWeek.

Applauding its ambition, Ritson reckons: "a star of Harrison Ford's stature and this kind of very high-end, long-form video execution are way, way above what you would normally expect from a brand of Glenmorangie's size – or, frankly, any other whisky brand." He feels the investment will pay off in the long-term.

Already it appears to have legs. "How many alcohol brands have ever done an ad' that has been talked about beyond the day it was released?" asks Thom Watt, global brand controller at Whyte & Mackay's Fettercairn single malt.

He believes it will be remembered as a Glenmorangie ad, rather than just a Harrison Ford ad. When Leonard Rossiter and Joan Collins hammed it up in those famous Cinzano TV ads in the 1980s, there's no doubt viewers loved them. They remembered the stars, but forgot the brand, and every time the ads were aired, sales of Martini went up.

For Thom, the new Glenmorangie campaign is pretty old school. "Man sits by fireplace, drinks whisky, gets a kilt made … it's very traditional in lots of ways, but I think it absolutely works for them. They are a huge volume whisky brand, and they're not speaking to people who even necessarily understand that Scotch is from Scotland."

Some may feel the misty mountains, pipes and castle are a little overdone, even if clearly tongue-in-cheek, but to an American audience perhaps not. It is certainly a shift from the brand's previous campaign – 'It's kind of Delicious & Wonderful' – which was luscious, colourful and modern, and probably aimed more at Asian consumers. Japan is a big market for Glenmorangie.

When it comes to ramping up sales "using a mega, global super-star can do that job very quickly and at scale, in a way that regular brand-building can't," says Elliot Wilson, strategy director at the drinks marketing agency The Cabinet. But while he appreciates the warmth of the story-telling, he wonders about its star, and whether Harrison Ford will simply appeal to older consumers who grew up watching his blockbuster movies.

Time will tell, but credit to Glenmorangie's owners for making such a big splash at a time when single malt Scotch could do with a boost. Global shipments are down from their peak of 2022, and in America, sales tumbled 16% by volume and 13% by value last year according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the US.

If Glenmorangie can buck that trend, and encourage other Scotch malt brands to make similar investments in marketing rather than price promote to cling on to market share, and provided those threatened tariffs hold off, the tide may turn in America.

In the meantime, we can ponder the future for Harrison Ford and Glenmorangie. Padding around in his kilt, alone in his castle he appears brooding, almost melancholy. Maybe he'll find love in the next episode, and someone to share a dram with.