Aviation Gin is back in the video spotlight after its response to the Peloton ad went viral. This time, it’s using Leap Day (February 29th) to help a woman born in 1936 to celebrate her official 21st birthday.
Arlene, the commercial’s star, was born on February 29th, 1936. As she only gets to celebrate her actual birthday every four years, her real 21st birthday was this year in 2020. Ryan Reynolds and Aviation Gin took this opportunity to help Arlene celebrate her first legal drink. The ad is playful, funny, and sarcastic—watch it below to see for yourself.
Aviation Gin is becoming the “it” brand when it comes to commercial content. Comments for this spot on YouTube include messages like “I’ll watch any advertisement made by Ryan Reynolds” or “Aviation Gin: adverts you’ll watch.” This is no small feat in the age of ad-blocking technology and fast-forwarding through commercials!
One piece of wisdom to glean from the brand’s style is that both this ad and the anti-Peloton spot were very timely. With the Peloton scandal, the brand acted quickly, which goes against the norm for a typical campaign process. Many advertising experts say that had Aviation Gin released its Peloton response ad just a week or two later, the moment would have been over and the impact would have suffered.
This is a critical differentiator in an industry where content often goes through layers of internal review and client approval before any decisive actions can be taken. Had Aviation Gin operated that way, its ad acclaim wouldn’t be where it is today.
We’ll have to wait to see what Aviation Gin does next, but it’s sure to be timely, witty, and engaging—all qualities that Reynolds and his brand are becoming known for. Cheers to the team behind this ad for another example of great content!