Captain Morgan Remixes Iconic Meme for 0.0% Booze Spot

Captain Morgan is today unveiling its global Why You Whying campaign to support the launch of Captain Morgan Spiced Gold 0.0%. The TVC and digital campaign challenges the negative societal pressure of being asked ‘why aren’t you drinking’ when people choose a non-alcoholic beverage. 

The new campaign stars content creator, Nick Fraser, who shot to fame in 2015 after his Why You Always Lying video went viral, turning him into a popular meme. Drawing inspiration from Nick’s original content, the new campaign, Why You Whying, features the star singing new lyrics, using humour to challenge people to stop and think before they ask a friend why they aren’t drinking. 

Taking place at a house party, a guest begins to make himself a drink with Captain Morgan 0.0% but as he begins to pour, a friend turns to him and asks why he’s not drinking. There are sounds of gasping as the viral star pops up in his iconic shirt and asks ‘why?’ before beginning to sing Why You Always Whying to challenge this reaction. 

The campaign was created in response to the common question people get asked if they choose a non-alcohol drink - ‘Why’? A question with potential to cause awkwardness or make people feel as though they must justify their decision to moderate. The TVC aims to challenge people to stop asking this question and normalise moderation in social settings.  

Samori Gambrah, global brand director of Captain Morgan, commented, “For the launch of Captain Morgan’s first alcohol-free offering, we wanted to do something fun to challenge people to stop and think before asking ‘why aren’t you drinking’. We hope this ad will make people laugh and think in equal measure. 

“We want to use the power of our marketing to make responsible drinking a social and cultural norm and partnering with viral sensation Nick Fraser - who exudes creativity, humour and spice - helped deliver an important message in a unique and fun way.” 

Nick Fraser, content creator, said, “I’ve been in situations where people have asked me ‘why aren’t you drinking?’ so I can really relate to the situation. The campaign is about breaking the stigma of people asking why and I like the message of helping people to feel more comfortable ordering an alcohol-free drink.” 

“It’s been great bringing back a meme I made a long time ago – from the production to the director and the team, it’s all been a brilliant experience.” 

The campaign was produced by Outsider and directed by their Cape Town based director Karien Cherry who has achieved international recognition for her rich cinematic worlds. Created by Anomaly, the TVC launches in GB, from 2nd October before further roll out in 2024. In addition to video content, a series of GIFs and other assets have been created to run across digital.  

Joe Corcoran, ECD, Anomaly London said, “We based this work on an insight people experience when choosing a non-alcoholic drink – coming up against the same question time and time again; "Why?". As soon as you hear that question, it sort of kills the vibe. The 'Spice On' attitude is about embracing whatever your choice is. You do you. Once we added the brilliant Nick Fraser to that, it just made everything so much fun, which is what choosing a non-alcoholic drink should be.” 

Carefully developed over the past two years by Diageo’s innovation team, Captain Morgan Spiced Gold 0.0% is the first alcohol free innovation from Captain Morgan, and Diageo’s first alcohol free dark spirit. Captain Morgan Spiced Gold 0.0% has been created with intricate layers of flavour that start with rich notes of caramel, molasses, vanilla that warm to brown spices. 

As an alcohol-free spirit, future campaigns will contribute towards Diageo's Spirit of Progress ambition of reaching one billion consumers with moderation messages by 2030.