Category:Videos

It’s a Wonderful Wine Life 2023

by Wine Curmudgeon Posted On

One last time: The WC’s holiday wine traditions, video and literary

I wrote three Christmas parodies during the blog’s run —  my take on “It’s a Wonderful Life,”  as well as A Wine Curmudgeon Christmas Carol and ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas: The cheap wine version. Needless to say, all are brilliant. And I should add that Eddie Murphy recently told Jimmy Kimmell he loves “It’s a Wonderful Life,” so I can only hope Eddie — and his pal, Dick Cavett — will like my version, too.

The video is the WC’s quintessential holiday wine advice video, made with the incomparable Michael Sansolo for the Private Label Manufacturers Association. This was supposed to be a series, but then the pandemic happened and my work with the association came to an end. Ah, but we came so close to making the WC a YouTube star.

The original video post ran here. The video is age-restricted, since it’s about alcohol, but click the link to watch it on YouTube.

Pass the wine, please

by Wine Curmudgeon Posted On

The Wine Curmudgeon has passed an infinite number of bottles of wine across the table over the years, but never quite in this fashion. And, frankly, if it took me five minutes to pass a bottle, I can think of more than a few fellow diners who would be annoyed.

Having said that, this effort from kinetic artist Joseph Herscher is worth watching for the entire five minutes. Herscher specializes in these sorts of contraptions — he made a machine to pass the pepper at the dinner table and one that can make a sandwich and feed it to its creator.

Video courtesy of Joseph’s Machines via YouTube

TV wine ads: Taco Bell — yes, Taco Bell — succeeds where wine hasn’t

by Wine Curmudgeon Posted On

A mass market fast food ad makes me want tacos at 2 a.m.

When the Wine Curmudgeon was a young newspaper reporter, I ate entirely too much fast food at 2 a.m. — White Castle, since I lived in Chicago, and Taco Bell, for its 49-cent tacos.

I haven’t had either in years (or much else in the way of fast food, actually). So why did I want Taco Bell again after watching this commercial? Because it’s that effective.

Or, as the blog’s official wine marketer explained it to me: “That was expertly done, showing multiple generations together, having fun dining, and all to a song that resonates with the younger than 60 generations. Plus the hip use of ‘Polaroids’ in the images. No voice over – the images carried the message. Heavily processed images saturated with colors and filters. Short and sweet. If only the Big 5 wineries would analyze this and run with its concepts.”

Which, of course, they won’t. Instead, we get stuff like this.

Because, wine.

Video: Taco Bell via YouTube

More about TV wine ads:
• TV wine ads: Did Bolla get it right 41 years ago?
• TV wine ads: I’m Brosnan, Pierce Brosnan
• TV wine ads: Mateus rose — “it’s like a trip to Portugal”

TV wine ads: Crown Royal understands its audience

by Wine Curmudgeon Posted On

If a pricey blended whiskey can make a terrific ad, why can’t wine?

Crown Royal – once a whiskey for the aging wine demographic – has made surprising inroads with younger consumers. Why surprising? The basic, 750-ml bottle costs $25, which we’re told is more than they want to spend on wine.

So how has Crown Royal done this? With ads like this 2018 effort, which strikes me as funny and unpretentious in a way that almost no wine advertising has managed. Plus, it shows young people having fun without an adult looking on to grant permission. (Since the ad is about alcohol, you’ll need to sign in to YouTube to see it.)

Compare it to this Bread & Butter Wines ad, which tries desperately hard for the same vibe, but can’t help itself and includes an adult lecturing about wine. Because, of course, with wine, we have to tell young people what to do.

Trust me, wine business. Young people know how to drink; the last thing they need is an adult explaining how to do it. Would that wine figures that out before it’s too late.

Video courtesy of  Ben Vereen via YouTube

More about TV wine ads:
• TV wine ads: When in doubt, use sex
• The history of wine advertising and reaching younger consumers
• TV wine ad update: Does Stella Rosa’s sweet fizzy red commercial do what Big Wine can’t?

TV wine ads: When in doubt, use sex

by Wine Curmudgeon Posted On

Maybe sex is the answer to wine’s demographic problem

Regular readers here know the abysmal state of wine advertising, which has been documented on the blog many times. Having said that, the Wine Curmudgeon wonders if this almost 40-year-old ad wouldn’t solve many of wine’s marketing problems.

In a word, sex.

This ad, for a long-gone French white of middling quality called Valbon, isn’t subtle. Which, if nothing else, is a relief given the rest of the wine ads we’ve looked at over the years. Drink this, says the woman, and your sex life will improve tremendously: “Now, I play grown-up games.”

How’s that for a message for the viewer to take away?

Also note the woman’s age – the demographic that isn’t much interested in wine any more. Seriously – change her hairstyle, make the dress a littler more current, and do we have something here to work with?

It’s a Wonderful Wine Life 2022

by Wine Curmudgeon Posted On

The WC rolls out the holiday traditions, both video and literary

What does one acquire after writing the blog for 15 holiday seasons? Holiday tradition, of course. So enjoy:

• The video is the WC’s epic holiday wine advice video, made with the legendary Michael Sansolo for the Private Label Manufacturers Association. This was supposed to be a series, but then the pandemic happened. The original post ran here. The video is age-restricted, since it’s about alcohol, but click the link to watch it on YouTube.

• The WC’s take on “It’s a Wonderful Life” — not quite as wonderful as the original, but it has its moments. And, no, my version of “White Christmas” isn’t coming any time soon.

• The first two holiday parodies — A Wine Curmudgeon Christmas Carol and ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas: The cheap wine version. Frankly, pretty classic stuff.