Guinness visits remote Eriskay, and its football team, to welcome back the Premier League

We saw the purity of grassroots football, the American version, in last week’s NFL’s kickoff campaign. Here’s something similar for the global game of football—a Guinness campaign heralding its new global Premier League sponsorship with a charming story that couldn’t be more local. The 60-second spot above, from AMV BBDO and director Steve Ayson, visits Eriskay, an island in the Outer Herbrides of Scotland, where nearly 10% of the population play for the football team. The field is a little dodgy, and the sheer dropoffs to the ocean mean local fishermen often double as ball boys. At the end of the game, everyone piles into the pub for a non-alcoholic Guinness 0.0.—though we’re guessing more than a few of these blokes opt for the alcoholic version instead. Also read: Jason Momoa is back in another Guinness ad In June, the Diageo brand struck a four-year agreement to be the official beer and non-alcoholic beer of the Premier League. Guinness has said it plans to explore football rituals and traditions worldwide in its creative work around the partnership. More spots are in the works, including another global ad called “Rooftop,” shot in Korea. “Whether we’re fishing footballs out of the sea off the island of Eriskay, or playing football on the roof of a Korean shopping mall, it has been a wonderful and busy time bringing to life this very human, very Guinness body of work that shows that nothing bring us together quite like Guinness and the Premier League,” said Nicholas Hulley and Nadja Lossgott, chief creative officers at AMV BBDO. More Creativity coverage from Ad Age: Sign up for our daily Creativity newsletter to see the best stories of the day.

Guinness visits remote Eriskay, and its football team, to welcome back the Premier League

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