Actions Speak Louder.....

There seems to a trend in the drinks industry that disposes of our favoured medium, the written word, in favour of using imagery to conjure up the flavour of the drink.

Chateau Petrogasm's quirky concept has been around since the summer of 2007. It requires contributors to submit the name and price of a wine as well as a picture that they believe best represents the wine, however bizzare.

While some imply subtle notes of flavour such as this 2003 Kirralaa Bushvine Shiraz, Australia ($10)



Others however, such as the 2005, Osborne Solaz Shiraz/Tempranillo, Tierra De Castilla, $8.99, despite the blogs brief, leads one to think of the original words that popped into the contributors head.





This rather lovely idea is popping up elsewhere too. Firefly tonics, who go from strength to strength, are running a competition where contributors upload pictures that best represent the drink, whether it be wake up or chill out. The winners will have their entries on half a million firelfy bottles. Reward enough for some but they will chuck you some firefly bottles too.



Liquorsnob.com highlights how this idea can be taken into a more adult direction, Three Olives Vodka have launched a competition to 'See Your O-face'



Not a bad prize, $10,000 for the winner, but surely, like 'The Wicker Man' the original is the best.

A picture paints a thousand words, not a new concept, but one that can be taken on by Beam to build up a raft of expressions associated with their products.

Diageo Keeping Spirits Up

'One last Drink' by erix!

Somewhat at odds with their cut backs the drinks giant Diageo has predicted a growth in the U.S spirits market in the forthcoming year. The expected growth, while small at 0-1 percent (sales volume) , in current conditions, is growth nonetheless.

Corroborating this blog's previous insight into the impressively robust performance of whisky's with with a following, such as Makers Mark and Jack Daniels, Ivan Menezes, Diageo's North American head, said in an interview on Tuesday during the Reuters Food and Agriculture Summit in Chicago that "The consumer shift is toward strong brands with strong credentials and strong heritage,"

Good news, but not for the new boys.

Glenmorangie Event at Barts Speakeasy

I ventured out to Barts on Sloane Avenue having been tipped off by a friend at work. It claims in the same breath to be both "a new concept for eating and drinking" and London's worst kept secret.

I'm not going to give the game away and just leave this signs as clues for you...





We were greeted by a shifty looking chap in prohibition era get up who asked us for a password before letting us into the drinking den.



Once inside we were overwhelmed by the design. Its brilliant. Quirky. Inspiring. As if it has been curated by someone with far too much time on their hands. We loved the "computer says no" Mona Lisa and the luggage racks. It transforms a room in an apartment block into a speakeasy by paying attention to minute details.





A dressing up box encourages everyone to get stuck in too...



... which was embraced wholeheartedly by the buzzing crowd.





The evening was sponsored by Glenmorangie who were launching their soda siphon (which we've covered before). Drinks such as Glen'Malone (whisky, ginger, lemon grass and soda) and Sweet as Candy (whisky, candied orange, rose cordial and soda water) initially put some of the girls off. But once they'd got past the idea of whisky there was no stopping them. Personally, I loved the gingery cocktail and thought the idea behind the event and its execution were fantastic.





It would be a great venue for a Le Nez event, or better still a whisky event or two. I'm quite keen to organise a party there soon. I just hope this article is enormously unpopular and no-one finds out where it is!




Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Heineken Disco Keg

As far as I can make out, this was a Brazilian promotion that saw these disco kegs being sent to bloggers as a way of driving traffic to the Heineken Radio site.

From Brainstorm 9

Jameson's Belfast Film Festival

Jameson's activity in Belfast focuses on their sponsorship of the Belfast Film Festival. The popcorn ad-shell injects some fun into the promotion and gives a nod towards the famous 3M busstop ad which is filled with money.

All material is from Chris Kileen's site who has also featured some interesting work for Stoli.

Fentiman's Coasters

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Fentiman's coasters encourage you to form a bottom shape with your fingers, thumbs and other flaps of skin to make them look like bottom cracks. The cut out in the coaster then acts as a "window" - a bit like seaside stocks.

These are some of the best coasters I've ever seen. Interactive. Playful. Brilliant. Whoever made these, hats off to you. You deserve all the awards in the world.

Diageo Cuts Back

From the Glasgow Evening Times:

"Around 650 workers at the Diageo Johnnie Walker factory in Kilmarnock will be sent home for a week in March and a week in April following an internal review. They will, however, continue to be paid while production is halted.

And Diageo today stressed that the hi-tech plant in Hill Street remained viable and had a long term future...

A company spokesman said: "In response to our current volume outlook we have decided to temporarily close our Kilmarnock packaging site for two weeks during which the employees affected will continue to be paid.

"We will continue to work closely with employee representatives during these difficult times - and ensure regular communications with all our employees.""

For more on this have a look at Luxist's article on Johnnie Walker and also a more detailed look into the Diageo restructure.