Jim Beam Celebrates Bar Singalongs With ‘Genuinely Optimistic’ Campaign

Drinking during the Covid-19 lockdowns was often a solitary affair or involved toasting a computer screen in scheduled virtual happy hours. Jim Beam is urging drinkers to return to the spontaneous fun of socializing at a crowded bar with its new “People Are Good For You” campaign.

Created by Leo Burnett and directed by Noam Murro, the spot shows a bartender pouring Jim Beam while his patrons sing and dance to Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline.” A lone woman walks through the door and appears surprised and delighted by the fun she can join.

“Jim Beam’s new platform gives fresh energy to the point of view that’s always been at the core of this iconic brand’s DNA: People are good for you,” Leo Burnett president and chief creative officer Britt Nolan said in a statement. “We’re very proud to put work into the world that’s genuinely optimistic and uplifting.”

Fifteen-, 30- and 60-second versions of the ad launched across broadcast, streaming, digital and social channels in the U.S. May 1 and will spread to global markets later this year.

Jim Beam is also refreshing its visual identity, with design agency Turner Duckworth updating the brand’s website, rosette label, packaging and other consumer touchpoints. The new look will launch in the U.S. and Japan in June before rolling out globally.

“We started this process by going back to our heritage as a brand crafted through the generations by the first family of bourbon,” Jim Beam global brand vice president Veronique Mura said in a statement. “Jim Beam is an iconic brand that has celebrated the power of human connection for over two hundred years, going back to the front porch of the Beam family home where everyone was welcome. Our new global brand campaign puts our authenticity and warmth on full display and reminds audiences that there’s no feeling more special than being around other people.”  

The goal of the refresh is to honor the history of the world’s best-selling bourbon, which dates back to 1795, while maintaining a down-to-earth feel.

“Great brands always seem to have a spirit of place about them,” Turner Duckworth London creative director Matt Lurcock said in a statement. “Talking to Fred Noe, the great-grandson of Jim Beam, we kept hearing about the Beam family porch. It’s where Beam was first bottled and shared, where traditions were born and where folks came together time and again for more than seven generations. Bringing this spirit of the porch together with the unmistakable marks of Jim Beam retained all the brand’s familiarity, but packed it full of warm, honest soul.”