David Lynch has designed a limited-edition champagne bottle for Dom Perignon. As if that wasn't major enough (necessary use of valleygirl terminology here), Nowness have just premiered a short film shot by Luke Gilford that celebrates the launch - and Lynch - and it's fantastic. Gilford adopts a lot of those Lynch trademarks in what is evidently a heart-felt homage; party scenes, smoke machines and - our current obsessions - neon lights. We love this video, and we love what it represents. The ultimate in branded content. Nowness is owned by LVMH and LVMH owns Dom Perignon. What could have happened was some half-baked advertorial like you see across so many websites nowadays. Instead, the result is far more exciting and creative and full of integrity than most non-branded content. We don't see a problem with having branded content when it is done really well. Branded content often lets you re-evaluate how you perceive a product, showing you a side to it that you might not necessarily have noticed from plain old advertisements, campaigns and even personal experience. And, we have to say, this video makes us want to go straight out to the bottleshop (classy) and buy some Dom Perignon, which, really, is the whole point.
In fact these liquor company / film maker / Nowness collaborations have been on our radar for a little while, but we've only just got around to putting something together about them. We first noticed the trend when we saw a short film by Dustin Lynn about a journey to Shanghai to reveal the new bottle for Hennessy VSOP. All the elements of the Dom Perignon video are here too: slick, polished branded material, a clear creative vision, and a final product that slides effortlessly both into the realm of short film and into the world of advertisements. It makes you want to drink Hennessy, yes, but it also makes you wanna find out more about Dustin Lynn and watch movies and spend hours clicking through on Nowness sites until you emerge, 3 and half hours later, ebullient but completely at a loss as to what you just did with all your time. We call that the Nowness black hole, and after watching this video you might just get a taste of it yourself.
In fact these liquor company / film maker / Nowness collaborations have been on our radar for a little while, but we've only just got around to putting something together about them. We first noticed the trend when we saw a short film by Dustin Lynn about a journey to Shanghai to reveal the new bottle for Hennessy VSOP. All the elements of the Dom Perignon video are here too: slick, polished branded material, a clear creative vision, and a final product that slides effortlessly both into the realm of short film and into the world of advertisements. It makes you want to drink Hennessy, yes, but it also makes you wanna find out more about Dustin Lynn and watch movies and spend hours clicking through on Nowness sites until you emerge, 3 and half hours later, ebullient but completely at a loss as to what you just did with all your time. We call that the Nowness black hole, and after watching this video you might just get a taste of it yourself.