After the success of their first Super Bowl ad, Hennessy is at it again with their latest campaign being released just in time for the Oscars.
A mix of epic drama and sci-fi odyssey, ‘The Seven Worlds,’ enlist the talents of Sir Ridley Scott, as well as the flavours of the brands X.O. Cognac to tell a tale of flavour, enacting the idea that ‘Each drop of Hennessy X.O is an Odyssey.
The ad also pays homage to the Oscars, with a scene that includes colossal golden figures similar to the Oscars award statue.
Scott, who directed films including “Alien,” “Blade Runner” and “Gladiator,” created the four-minute film for the brand that will air tomorrow night, on Hennessy’s site during the Oscars, while a 60-second version, will air on television during the award show.
After nearly 16 years out of the advertising business, Scott has brought his grand vision to the high-profile campaign. Heavy on visual effects,‘The Seven Worlds’, was crafted as a creative interpretation of each tasting note for Hennessy X.O’: Sweet Notes, Rising Heat, Spicy Edge, Flowing Flame, Chocolate Lull, Wood Crunches, culminating in Infinite Echo.
Seven World For Seven Notes
The seven dream-like stories are intended to convey the incredible richness and complexity of this Cognac. The ad is very much a multi-sensorial Odyssey, as individual worlds are each brought to life through wondrous and extreme physiography.
Scott’s visual feast captures collectors gathering shimmering golden liquid, human figures walking in the shadows of gilded giants, androids coming to life through spicy synapses, beings gliding through a fiery atmosphere and meditating peacefully amongst levitating rocks while lush woodlands are stirred by invisible spirits.
As the film culminates we see the worlds co-existing in an omnipresent nebula and are reminded of the director’s mastery in transporting viewers to other worlds. Scott leaves it to the viewer’s imagination to decide whether the film occurs in the future or the past, in reality, or in a dreamscape as he takes us through vivid scenes offering snapshots of each world.
Great Scott
Scott joked, “I missed doing advertising, and feature films were starting to get on my nerves.” He went on to say that he would come back to the medium if he found something special, which he said this project was. “It’s more than advertising, it’s a form of entertainment. I think advertising has realized, after 30 years, that it must shift back to entertainment.”
“This is more than advertising, it’s entertainment.” Ridley Scott
The Seven Worlds creative team includes global leaders in visual effects, Moving Picture Company (MPC), who previously collaborated with Scott on Alien, The Martian as well as Blade Runner. Composer Daniel Pemberton, who previously worked with Scott on All the Money in the World and The Counselor, created a unique and unexpected score perfectly complementing the director’s vision of Hennessy X.O.
Hennessy X.O. is a blend of 100 eaux-de-vie, its deep amber colour is a sign of its intensity. At once rich and robust, it constantly reveals layers of flavours with distinctive persistence on the palate.
