Founded in 2021, Dutch Barn Vodka has been going from strength to strength since. With sustainability at the core (pardon the pun), Dutch Barn Vodka is distilled from UK- sourced apples to make their clean, crisp and smooth product. In 2023 UK comic Ricky Gervais announced he would be joining as the new co-owner of Ellers Farm Distillery (Distillery producing Dutch Barn Vodka).
Ricky Gervais took up the reins on creative leadership, bringing his witty personality, a bit of fun and leaning into their “Positively Different” approach.
Image credit: Dutch Barn Vodka
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Playing into Gervais’s rebellious spirit Dutch Barn Vodka & Gervais’s campaign earlier this year popped off on social media with Gervais branding it as “the worst advert ever”. Following on from its viral success and having revised its identity, Dutch Barn Vodka launched its new “Positively Different” campaign last month. Unfortunately for them, their initial creative for a TfL OOH activation (with the key message, “One day you’ll be underground for good”) fell foul of advertising regulations to which Gervais responded on X by saying “We think there is a risk that this may be construed as implying that because life is short, one might as well drink, potentially to excess.”
It’s clear Dutch Barn Vodka and Gervais knew they were sailing close to the wind, but pushed forward anyhow, probably calculating it would get press either way. After this creative was refused, a new creative was resubmitted and approved, with Gervais and team continuing with their humorous approach.
We’ll be keeping tabs on Dutch Barn Vodka to see how they continue to get cut-through whilst activating their brand moving forward.
