Ariel Costa delivers an untypical spot for 1792 Bourbon that seamlessly delivers on their "Untypical" tagline. With his signature mixed-media-collage style, Ariel takes realistic elements and distorts them into a surreal world that flips the script on what a traditional whiskey spot can be. Say goodbye to gravelly-voiced, whiskey-in-the-woods, campfire provincialism. And hello to cosmopolitan collage, stylized storytelling, and a jazz-fueled journey into the "Untypical."
In the spot, three characters—the "3 Amigos" as Ariel calls them—embark on a surreal odyssey through the night until they stumble upon a magical speakeasy. Ariel's goal was to tap into this theme of discovery and exploration in order to put the characters and audience on a level playing field. Both are discovering 1792 Bourbon in tandem, together. And boy if it isn't one serendipitous discovery.
According to Ariel, "Our idea was to distort reality and create things that were Untypical. Mixed media really helps with that because it's good at grabbing realistic materials, then distorting their realities to create something unique and stylized. Ultimately, the spot is fun, happy, and completely different from what we usually see with whiskey commercials."
To quickly establish universal legibility, Ariel blended a variety of different signs and symbols from around the globe. In his words, "I used a mix of different symbols in the neon signs—Japanes symbols, Korean symbols, Greek symbols, various type faces—just to create a world that can be universal. It doesn’t apply to specific city; it could be any big city in the world. We’re creating our own world to tell this story because we want to represent everyone and also introduce everyone to 1792."
