Basically this is just a little bit of inspiration from the past or present to help you get over that mid week hump and hopefully help ignite a few sparks or thoughts in you that you could use on whatever it is you are working on.

All you have to do, is sit back grab a coffee and have a read.

Introducing the very first “Wish I had done that”. We have a blast from the past and some of you have heard me talk about this before but I thought it would be good to share with the rest that have not or may have never seen this.

It was for a little brand called Guinness and it is called “Surfer” it was a spot that ran in 1999 and was shot by the amazing Jonathan Glazer for the great AMV BBDO in London.

The reason I love this ad is because not only does it bring to life probably one of the greatest taglines ever written for a brand but was so beautifully crafted and different that it borders on perfection.

Let’s start at the beginning, and for those that don’t know the history about this tagline, well it was born straight out of a business problem that Guinness was facing. You see when you pour a pint of Guinness you have to wait for it to settle, that took roughly 2 minutes, if you have not seen it, go get a pint poured and watch it settle, it is a moment of beauty.

This however was a problem. During that time people where rushing home, popping into their local pubs for a quick pint before closing time to get home just in time for dinner. They were time poor and wanted it now. This is where Guinness had to express why it was worth the wait when you order a pint of Guinness and really make people want to wait for it.

And that was how this great platform was born, straight out of product issue. Turning a negative into positive. Giving birth to “Good things come to those who wait”. 

Now let’s get back to the one of many fantastic pieces of work to come out of this platform, Surfer.

The idea was simple. They likened the act of waiting for a perfect slow-poured pint of Guinness with exactly what it is like when you are waiting for that perfect set of waves to come rolling in. Simple, relatable and who doesn’t want that feeling, the anticipation, the nervousness and the pure sense of joy and freedom when you are in that moment. Living how we are meant to live. Free.

Cracking the idea for this was only the beginning. Then came the execution, the craft and the creativity to bring this to life in the most beautiful was possible that still to this day makes everyone in the industry jealous, not just me.

The craft is out of this world. 

The restraint on the dialogue, the voice they used to bring it to life and that silence at the beginning. 

That silence. Wow. 

By the way that silence lasts for a full 17 seconds before any sound or VO kicks in, genius. Imagine that now especially with our friends at the “Facebooks” of the world with their 6 seconds theory. Well this proves that wrong in my opinion.

Then there is the music and the sound design, put your headphones on. Listen to it loud, close your eyes and really listen to it. It takes you places. The mix of being in the water waiting and being with your friends in a pub is genius, all working wonders to support the perfect narrative.

Then the silence again for another 8 seconds, the pause on the footage and the most beautiful delivery of the tagline “Here’s to waiting. The goosebumps that creates for me every time is amazing.

All of that combined with the visual beauty of the pictures brought to life by one and only Jonathan Glazer. Firstly, black and white in the year of 1999 where  colour soaked every corner of the world. 

Disruptive at it’s core. 

The casting, the simple location, the camera movement. All with just enough restraint to push it far enough to create something we have never seen.

Then from nowhere, pure genius. Horses.

Sure they could have shown waves and surfers, we have all seen that. But to combine the horses, I mean a stampede of horses and white stallions at that. Come on, if they had a mic, it would have been the best drop ever. 

That beauty and visual depiction of power, the stampede and that sound of the hooves galloping towards you just like a breaking wave full of power, excitement and hope. No matter who you are and if you have never surfed before, you feel it. 

You want it and it is beautiful.

Put that all together and you have “Surfer”. The ad that has been voted numerous time by not just the industry but by the general public as one of the greatest of all time.

I would have to agree.

And if you have taken the time to read this, remember one thing…

“Good things come to those who wait”

Sit back, grab a pint and enjoy.

“I wish I had done that” - Gary