“Whatever’s Comfortable” is the name of the campaign by Brown Forman’s Southern Comfort brand. I blogged about it on August 4th of this year and the comments, nearly all of which are positive, keep coming.

So, I decided to revisit the ad via a conversation with Mark Bacon the Global Brand Director for Southern Comfort.

Like this blog, the feedback they have gotten from consumers has been overwhelmingly positive and is resulting in “significant increases in consumer takeaway.” I think that’s because their target consumer leans toward advertising that is real and doesn’t need the typical models they can’t relate to. According to Mark, “this ad is about it’s cool to be who you are.”

The power of the work from Wieden + Kennedy comes though not only in terms of the message but also the high production value of the ad. The strut, the dog, the shoes, and especially, the song — Hit or Miss by Odetta — with the lyrics, “I gotta be me.” I wish they had been one of my agencies.

The conventional wisdom in marketing is that once a brand loses its luster over time, there is little that can be done to bring it back. Oh yeah? Well, “Whatever’s Comfortable” may do just that. It resonates with consumers and it fits the brand well.

The ad is also running in the UK, Southern Comfort’s second largest market. There is a different version in Australia (not done by W+K). In the US, they have a new execution called “Patio.” All three ads are below.

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Let me know what you think about them.

“Patio” Ad

Australia Ad
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Original Ad