''Swimblack'' (also written as ''Swim Black'') is a 1998 advertisement for

Guinness Guinness () is a stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at Guinness Brewery, St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in the 18th century. It is now owned by the British-based Multinational corporation, multinational alcoholic bever ...

-brand draught

stout Stout is a type of dark beer that is generally warm fermented, such as dry stout, oatmeal stout, milk stout and imperial stout. Stout is a type of ale. The first known use of the word "stout" for beer is in a document dated 1677 in the E ...

which was broadcast in the United Kingdom. It is the first in the Good things come to those who wait

advertising campaign An advertising campaign or marketing campaign is a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme which make up an integrated marketing communication (IMC). An IMC is a platform in which a group of people can group their ide ...

created by

Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO AMV BBDO is an advertising agency that works with over 85 brands, including BT, Diageo, Walkers, and Mars. AMV campaigns may incorporate digital, social, experiential, print or broadcast media. AMV is part of the BBDO network, the third-larg ...

who had won the Guinness account from

Ogilvy & Mather Ogilvy is a New York City-based British advertising, marketing, and public relations agency. It was founded in 1850 by Edmund Mather as a London-based agency. In 1964, the firm became known as Ogilvy & Mather after merging with a New York City a ...

in January 1998. The centrepiece of the ''Swimblack'' campaign is a 60-second television and cinema commercial written by Tom Carty, art directed by Walter Campbell and directed by

Jonathan Glazer Jonathan Glazer (born 26 March 1965) is an English filmmaker. He began his career in theatre before transitioning into film, directing the features '' Sexy Beast'' (2000), ''Birth'' (2004), '' Under the Skin'' (2013), and '' The Zone of Inter ...

, which depicted an aging local sports hero's annual swimming race from an offshore

buoy A buoy (; ) is a buoyancy, floating device that can have many purposes. It can be anchored (stationary) or allowed to drift with ocean currents. History The ultimate origin of buoys is unknown, but by 1295 a seaman's manual referred to navig ...

to his brother's seafront pub against the "clock" of pint of Guinness being "correctly" poured at the bar. The brother declares that the hero will "never lose" as the punchline of the commercial shows the brother starting the clock a little later each year. The ad was shot in the remote Italian village of

Monopoli Monopoli (; ) is a town and comune, municipality in Italy, in the Metropolitan City of Bari and region of Apulia. The town is roughly in area and lies on the Adriatic Sea about southeast of Bari. It has a population of 49,246 (2014), ...

and used local villagers for the crowd scenes. The aims of the campaign were to promote Guinness in general, to turn around the negative consumer opinion of the length of time required to correctly pour a pint of Guinness from the tap, usually quoted as 119.5 seconds, and to encourage bartenders to take the time to do so. Print and billboard spots for ''Swimblack'' each tied back to the central theme of the campaign, which was successful at boosting sales, particularly among the older male demographic. The television/cinema commercial proved fairly popular with critics within the advertising and television industries, netting a number of awards - including a Creative Circle Gold for Best Editing and a gold in the British Television Advertising Awards in the Alcoholic Beverages category. Following the success of ''Swimblack'', permission was granted by

Diageo Diageo plc ( ) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational alcoholic beverage company, with its headquarters in London, England. It is a major distributor of Scotch whisky and other spirits and operates from 132 sites around the world ...

, owners of the Guinness brand, to AMV BBDO to pursue the campaign further, and led to the creation of the 1999 piece, '' Surfer''. The soundtrack uses Pérez Prado's " Mambo No. 5", continuing an association which began in 1994 when Arks Ltd.'s Guinness TV ad ''Anticipation'' used Pérez Prado's version of '' Guaglione'' as its soundtrack. (

Lou Bega David Lubega Balemezi (born 13 April 1975), better known by his stage name Lou Bega, is a German singer. His 1999 song "Mambo No. 5#Lou Bega version, Mambo No. 5", a remake of Pérez Prado's 1949 instrumental piece, reached no. 1 in many Europe ...

's hit cover of "Mambo No. 5" came out the following year.)

Additional credits

*Creative Director:

Peter Souter Peter Souter (born 1962) is a British writer. He is the chairman and chief creative officer of TBWA London as well as the former executive creative director of Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO. He wrote the screenplay for the 2010 ITV six-episode comedy ...

*Copywriter: Tom Carty *Art Director: Walter Campbell *Director of Photography: Ivan Bird *Editor: Rick Lawley *Music Production Company: Air-Edel Associates, London *Music Arranger:

Graham Preskett Graham Donald Harry Preskett is a British composer and musician who has been active since the early 1970s. He appeared on the Mott the Hoople albums ''Mott'' (1973) and '' The Hoople'' (1974), playing violin on both, and arranging and conducting ...

*Online: Smoke & Mirrors, London

External links

*http://www.guinness.com/ie_en/ads/classic/1990sTVs/swimblack/ *http://www.brandrepublic.com/Campaign/News/23879/

References

{{Good Things Guinness advertising British television commercials Irish television commercials 1990s television commercials 1998 works 1998 in British television Films directed by Jonathan Glazer Swimming mass media