Wild Turkey Bourbon: The Stars

Wild Turkey announces the launch of its new global creative campaign and platform, Trust Your Spirit, featuring the brand’s Creative Director and spokesperson, Matthew McConaughey. The global campaign and platform Trust Your Spirit is to encourage people to be bold, unapologetically themselves, and stay true to who they are. The global tagline and ethos also acts as a spirited tribute to the Russell family, three generations of Wild Turkey master distillers who are responsible for crafting some of the world’s finest bourbon and spirits for over 100 years. Shot on location in McConaughey’s hometown of Austin, Texas, the eight short films also embody the spirit and home of Wild Turkey in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky through archived footage and state-of-the-art projection mapping. The creative storyline across the films follows spokesperson and Creative Director McConaughey’s journey of discovering the true meaning of trusting one’s spirit as he explores the grounds of the Wild Turkey rickhouse and its storied history. The track “Black Moon Rising”, by Austin musicians Black Pumas, pays homage to the band’s home state and McConaughey’s modern cowboy persona in his home state, Texas. Australia will be the first country worldwide to release the new creative and global platform. It also marks the first global communication since the previous Real Bourbon, No Apologies platform, which served as an authentic brand tagline and enduring mantra. The campaign will launch in Australia via a series of TVCs, starting with two of the short films – “Jimmy's Spirit”, a 30” homage to Master Distiller and “Buddha of Bourbon” legend Jimmy Russell, in tandem with a 15” creative spot, “The Stars”. Portraying the iconic Wild Turkey rickhouse at dusk, “Jimmy’s Spirit” channels the Wild Turkey story of the Russells. It sees McConaughey toast to Jimmy Russell, Wild Turkey’s Master Distiller, who has always trusted his spirit in crafting the perfect Kentucky bourbon, culminating in “Here’s to Jimmy and his spirit – he trusted it”. “The Stars” finds McConaughey on the picturesque grounds of the Wild Turkey distillery, gazing upon the sky and reflecting on man’s relationship with a celestial universe. The roof of the Kentucky rickhouse frames a time-lapse projection of shooting stars with long exposure photography. It concludes with an observation from McConaughey drawing parallels across humans and stars – each has their own unique sparkle and spirit. He remarks that the world can be a beautiful place “if we alltrust our spirit” . . . as he watches the sun break the horizon, in true McConaughey fashion.