Through the Eyes of a Astronaut, Johnnie Walker Unveils a Future of Possibilities

Astronaut John Olivas has been out in space twice. His homecoming journeys and the rush of emotions at the thought of going back to his family, friends, and the simple pleasures in life have provided the inspiration for the commercial Johnnie Walker is to debut in celebration of its 200th anniversary. The international campaign was created by AlmapBBDO for Johnnie Walker.  

The movie follows a couple of astronauts as they travel back home in the midst of thousands of other space capsules. It carries a message of optimism and evokes a future filled with hope. Olivas’ view is in fact an allusion to what we are bound to feel when all this is over – after all, to many of us 2020 has been a year of isolation. The concept “The next 200 years are just beginning. Keep walking” strengthens our hopes for a future of possibilities.   

“With this campaign, Johnnie Walker manages to uphold the ‘Keep Walking’ spirit and to take a step further in telling a 200-year story that has always been about looking at the future and the possibilities it brings. As it focuses on the value of the great small pleasures of everyday life, the movie inspires us all. It also relies on diversity, this contemporary imperative, featuring as protagonists a black actress and a real astronaut of Mexican descent”, says Paulo Costa, marketing VP at Diageo.   

Throughout this year, the brand launched a number of actions in celebration of its 200th anniversary that now include this movie, set to be aired on TV and digital channels in 2021. An Iconoclast production, “Astronaut” is coming out with a running time of roughly two minutes in its shortened versions. The production relied on shooting sessions done both in the studio and outdoors. The voice-over was recorded by John Olivas himself, who encourages us to picture a world filled with promise and to give some thought to what we choose to celebrate in the journey ahead. 

According to Luiz Sanches, chairman and CCO at AlmapBBDO, “the rationale behind the campaign was to focus on how we feel now and to project the sensation of taking our first steps towards the future in the analogy of how an astronaut feels as he reenters our planet”. 

The story tells the entire journey back home in a grand-scale production. From images of the Milky Way, to the tension in the astronauts’ faces, to the countdown, the movie covers a full outer space experience until the space capsule’s safe landing into a new beginning on Earth. The outer space scenes were partially recorded in the studio using a LED screen to simulate being among the stars – the same technology as used in such feature films as Gravity – and later combined with computer-generated images. The outdoor scenes were shot in the coastline in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil.