‘Damn Right Your Dad Drank It’ is the feisty theme of Canadian Club’s first multi-layered ad campaign in about 20 years. It broke last week and will continue through 2008, the whisky brand’s 150th anniversary.

To hype the venerable brew, BBDO Chicago concocted hilariously provocative creative calling for men to reclaim their ‘unabashed masculinity after years of being subjected to trendy, fruity, martini-style cocktails.’ Featuring retro imagery from the 60s and 70s, the theme is that whisky-drinking dads of that era were the epitome of true manliness. Taglines include: ‘Your Dad Never Tweezed Anything’ and ‘Your Mom Wasn’t Your Dad’s First.’

With media buys by Toronto-based ZenithOptimedia, the campaign includes print ads in Maxim, Toronto Life, NOW and Eye Weekly, plus other key publications. As the initiative rolls out, there will also be out-of-home executions, radio advertising, experiential and viral elements, point-of-sale items and in-market events throughout 2008.

In what might be termed select CGC, Canadian Club invited its employees, and those at Maxxium (CC’s Canadian distributor) to search their personal photo albums and submit images that epitomize the days when father purportedly knew best. Many of these photos are included in the ‘Damn Right’ advertising and point-of-sale elements.

‘This is the most exciting brand communication for Canadian Club in years,’ says Toronto-based Dorene Wharton, global brands manager in Canada for CC parent company Beam Global Spirits & Wine. ‘It is anchored in a sentiment that resonates with all our consumers; people who appreciate the notion of timeless masculinity embodied in a masculine, classic cocktail.’