Few animals are as hardworking as the beaver. An ethos which makes the animal the perfect mascot for The Woodsman Whiskey to bring to life its ‘well earned’ messaging in the brand’s latest campaign from Mr President.

The campaign marks  the first major TV campaign for The Woodsman, the Whisky brand owned by Scottish drinks company Whyte & Mackay. The spot features a family of hardworking beavers.

The campaign sets out to celebrate The Woodsman Whisky as a drink that is ‘well-earned’ and also strives to champion the woodcraft at the heart of the whisky. The drink is matured using a mix of freshly-built oak casks and ex-Bourbon barrels double-scorched for extra depth. The beaver, known for their hard working nature and ability to build wooden dams, therefore, makes the perfect brand mascot able to bring together both brand values.

The campaign hero film follows a group of common beavers in their natural habitat working together as a team to build. Beavering away, getting to work chopping down trees, carrying planks and hammering nails, audiences are able to see just how hard-working this pack of animals can be. 

As the working day comes to an end for the beavers, audiences can see a bottle of The Woodsman Whisky being shared around as a leaver of the group raises a well-earned glass to the other beavers who are enjoying drinks and relaxing after the hard day's work.

“You don’t just drink The Woodsman Whiskey. You earn it. So when it came to finding the perfect mascot to reward life’s doers, there was only one choice - nature’s knuckle-down doer, the metaphorical sleeve-roller upper - the beaver,” added ECD and partner of Mr. President, Jon Gledstone.

The video has been directed by John Riche through Untold Studios and was filmed in the quiet mountain village of Govedartsi in Bulgaria. Instead of using CGI footage, Mr. President opted to work with specially crafted puppets, with the action led by puppeteer expert Alexander Berchert and crafted by British model maker Jonathan Saville.

The campaign shuns usual category conventions and by making use of brand mascots not just product, is able to inject life into the product and create a more engaging narrative for audiences.