McGrath brought in a director of photography to capture the tone and energy of that era, and he wrote the scripts to bring the brand to life. The result is a series of spots, static ads and OOH that let the whiskey speak for itself while using the star power of its founders to give a marketing kick.
“We’ve built up a certain amount of goodwill with our audience on It’s Always Sunny … It’s a crowded marketplace, so I think a lot of people will probably initially buy this because we’re involved, and they just want to try it. But if it’s not good, they won’t buy it again,” said Howerton, adding that the whiskey should stand on its own. “There should be lots of people drinking this even five years from now that don’t even know we were ever involved. That’s my vision for this brand.”
Just as the limited release donated proceeds to the bartending community, fans can shop the new Four Walls merchandise shop, where 100% of the proceeds of select items will benefit Tales of the Cocktail Foundation, a non-profit that works to educate, advance and support the global cocktail community.
“The whole feel of the brand should be that it’s your everyday drinking whiskey, it’s not that top shelf thing that you only reach for on occasion. Our whole goal for this was to see more empty bottles down behind the bar than full bottles on the shelf,” said Howerton.