ONE of the world’s biggest alcohol brands has been forced to pulp a Christmas marketing campaign after they accidentally urged drinkers to buy “old Highland whiskey".
Diageo, the multinational firm behind Johnnie Walker, J&B, Bells, Cardhu, Talisker, Mortlach and The Singleton, have changed the adverts after being alerted to the mistake by The National.
It was one of our readers who brought the commercial to our notice, telling us it was “as ridiculous as Domino’s being unable to correctly spell pizza, or Moet persistently misspelling Champagne.”
The initial advert for the John Walker and Sons 200th anniversary celebratory blend claimed the Scotch was “inspired by our original old Highland whiskey”.
The drinks company – which operates 28 malt distilleries, accounting for nearly one-third of the industry’s total capacity – told The National: “This has been an inadvertent spelling error which is being corrected.”
READ MORE: MPs mock Westminster officials after Scotch whisky spelling gaffe
Ruth Watson, from Scotland The Brand, said: “On the face of it seems like a relatively minor slip, but this really matters because Irish whiskey and Scotch whisky are in direct competition with each other.”
This year is the bicentenary of John Walker becoming involved in the grocery business. When his father died in 1820, leaving him £417 in trust, it was invested in an Italian warehouse, grocery, and wine and spirits shop on the High Street in Kilmarnock.
Walker, who was a teetotaller, sold his own “Walker’s Kilmarnock Whisky” from the shop and had a healthy enough business.
It was his son Alexander who really took the firm global, scaling up the operation, introducing the iconic square bottle, with the slanted label.
Despite some turbulent times in the 20th century, including prohibition, world wars, and a global pandemic, the family remained involved in Johnnie Walker until the business was bought over by Guinness – now part of Diageo – in 1986.
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