"Damn Right Your Dad Drank It" is the first multi-layered national advertising campaign for Canadian Club (CC) whisky in almost 20 years.
"'Damn Right' is designed to inspire consumers to rediscover this great brand through its engaging imagery and provocative headlines," says Dennis Prado, senior brand director, Canadian Club. The campaign features candid imagery from the 1960s and 1970s and provocative taglines that remind consumers that their dads were once cool, stylish and decidedly masculine, notes Beam Global Spirits & Wine, Inc. a division of Fortune Brands, Inc., which recently acquired Canadian Club. The November campaign launch will be supported by print, out-of-home and radio advertising, experiential elements, point-of-sale items and in-market events that will continue throughout the brand's 150th anniversary in 2008, says the company.
The thought-provoking campaign challenges consumers to embrace their dads' classic masculinity, most visibly expressed through their choice to drink Canadian Club whisky cocktails. So, in launching "Damn Right," CC invited Beam Global employees to search through their photo albums to submit images that epitomize the campaign, and many of those photos were used in the campaign and point-of-sale elements.
For example, the first ad execution, "Your Mom Wasn't Your Dad's First," and several point-of-sale materials feature vintage photos of a mid to late 20s Dan Tullio, Canadian Club's current global brand ambassador.
Additional executions of "Damn Right" incorporate the intelligent humor characteristic of this campaign and include headlines such as "Your Dad Was Not a Metrosexual" and "Your Dad Never Got a Pedicure." Beginning in November 2007, consumer print advertisements will run in Rolling Stone, Sports Illustrated and Sporting News, with additional placements in Playboy, Men's Journal, Esquire, Outside and Men's Fitness in December 2007 and throughout 2008. The campaign also will be featured in spirits trade publications, radio, out-of-home media buys and viral elements.
Energy BBDO led all creative design for the "Damn Right" advertisements as well as point-of-sale collateral. In May 2007, Canadian Club hired Energy BBDO to lead the brand's repositioning in an effort to increase relevance and trial among its target audience. New York-based Zenithmedia along with sister agency Moxie Interactive out of Atlanta, coordinated all print, radio, online and out-of-home media buys.
"'Damn Right' is positioned to expose the brand to a new consumer who appreciates the notion of timeless masculinity, most importantly a masculine, classic cocktail," says Prado. "It signifies a vital shift for CC and we're thrilled to launch this compelling campaign."
Since Beam Global's acquisition of Canadian Club, the brand has built significant momentum. In 2006 and the majority of 2007, the brand focused its efforts on motorsports and signed with Andretti Green Racing (AGR) in the IndyCar Series as a major sponsor of the No. 27 car driven by Dario Franchitti. Franchitti won the 2007 Indianapolis 500 in dramatic fashion as well as the 2007 IndyCar Series championship.
"Canadian Club has been and continues to be one of the most widely distributed premium spirits brands in the world," says Prado, and "with our iconic brand commemorating its 150th anniversary in 2008, we couldn't think of a better time to celebrate generations of CC consumers than with the launch of the 'Damn Right' campaign."
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"Damn Right Your Dad Drank It" is the first multi-layered national advertising campaign for Canadian Club (CC) whisky in almost 20 years. 
