Campaign: Start a Party

Diageo’s ‘Start a Party’ global advertising campaign promoted its J&B Scotch Whisky and encouraged consumers to drink responsibly.

G2 Mexico helped bring Mirrorball Man, J&B’s responsible drinking spokesperson, to life and to spread his message that a responsible attitude to drinking makes partying more enjoyable. The character, wearing a sharp yellow suit and a mirror ball for a head, travelled to bars and clubs across the country to party while handing out free water bottles to encourage people to pace their drinking with non-alcoholic spacers and providing taxi numbers to discourage drink-driving.

In addition to his live appearances, Mirrorball Man spread his responsible drinking message through stickers and posters in washrooms. These told people to watch out for signs of drunkenness (such as not being able to walk in a straight line) and to call a taxi if they had too much to drink.

The campaign was effective, because it communicated a serious message in a fun and engaging way. Research following the campaign in Mexico found that 91% of consumers polled thought that promoting responsible drinking was a good idea for J&B and 71% said they thought better of the brand as a result.

Mirror Ball Man has also appeared in 13 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America.