Tom Daley preaches water safety for Malibu rum in first post-retirement campaign

The British Olympic diver raises awareness of drinking and drowning in W+K campaign with some excellent merch

Published On
Aug 14, 2024
Tom Daley on a diving board with red swim trunks that read "Don't drink and dive"

Editor's Pick

Malibu rum and Wieden+Kennedy London have nailed the timing and subject of their new celebrity endorsement, signing just-retired British Olympic diver Tom Daley to be the face (and other body parts) of a campaign warning of the dangers of drinking alcohol around water.

The campaign, which launches Wednesday, features portraits of Daley in Mallorca lounging around a pool in skimpy red swim briefs with the phrase “Don’t drink and dive” custom-knitted into them. One of several video executions (below) reveals the alarming stat that informs the work: that one in four drowning deaths in the U.K. involves booze.

 

W+K London's in-house creative production studio, WracK, created the executions. The videos feature the famous 1979 Rupert Holmes track “Escape (The Piña Colada Song).” The campaign will also feature floating out-of-home displays in water locations across the U.K.

A floating billboard from the campaign

Daley, 30, announced after the Paris Olympics, where he won silver, that he is retiring from professional diving. He won five Olympic medals in his career, including a gold and three bronze.

“The ‘Don’t Drink and Dive’ platform allows Malibu to carve out a very ownable water safety space within the responsibly drinking category,” said Philippa Beaumont and Freddy Taylor, creative directors at W+K. “We’re so proud that the first iteration landed us a national treasure sporting life-saving, knitted swimwear. We’re so excited for all the good we’ll be attempting to do as the platform evolves.”

Tom Daley wearing knitted slides

Craig van Niekerk, Malibu’s VP of marketing, said the brand is committed to a “long-term responsible drinking, behavior-change platform, which raises awareness of the very real risks surrounding alcohol consumption near water.”

The knitted apparel, including sunglasses and a bucket hat, is exclusively available to buy, as a limited-edition capsule collection, from Daley’s own Made With Love brand, with all proceeds going to the Royal Life Saving Society UK.

Apparel from the ‘Don’t drink and dive’ collection

Apparel from the ‘Don’t drink and dive’ collection

Apparel from the ‘Don’t drink and dive’ collection

Apparel from the ‘Don’t drink and dive’ collection

Apparel from the ‘Don’t drink and dive’ collection

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Credits

Date
Aug 14, 2024
Client :
Malibu Rum
Client :
Pernod Ricard
Agency :
Wieden & Kennedy-London
Creative Director :
Freddy Taylor
Creative Director :
Philippa Beaumont
Creative :
Brendan Madden
Creative :
Spencer Llewellyn
Chief Creative Officer :
Ana Balarin
Chief Creative Officer :
Hermeti Balarin
Group Account Director :
Ollie Pym
Account Director :
Florence Smith
Chief Strategy Officer :
Dan Hill
Strategy Director :
Brian Ritter
Head of Communications Planning :
Anjali Patel
Integrated Producer :
Aurelie Livera
Business Affairs :
Alex Coomer
Production Company :
WracK
Director/Photographer :
Jenny Brough
Photographer Assistant :
Ho Hai Tran
Executive Producer :
Jennifer Lawlor
Production Company Producer :
Clara Bennett
Production Manager :
Kelly Hewitt
Director of Photography :
Peter Bishop
Production Designer :
Dominique Aizpurua
Costume Designer :
Juliana Laporta
Editorial Company :
Work Editorial
Editor :
Hasani Franke
Edit Producer :
Lola Cookman
VFX Company :
Time Based Arts
VFX Producer :
Mia Saunders
VFX Supervisor :
Danny Peoples
Colorist :
Ruth Wardell
Sound Designer :
Tom Guest
Music Company :
Leland
Music Supervisor/Producer :
Maiken Silverup
Composer :
Rupert Holmes
Composer :
Fraser Rieley

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Project Type