Three things Glenmorangie’s Harrison Ford campaign tell us about the state of Scotch whisky

Harrison Ford is the new face of Glenmorangie

Glenmorangie has unveiled its major Once Upon a Time in Scotland campaign to much fanfare. Recruiting Harrison Ford as the face of the brand sends a clear message – and it also provides a lens through which to view the wider troubled Scotch industry. Here are three takeaways from the starry series. 

The Scotch whisky rumour mill kicked into action over the summer of 2024. Harrison Ford had been spotted in a pub in the rural Highlands. He also happened to be not that far from Glenmorangie. “So that’s why I couldn’t visit the distillery!” A friend exclaimed at the time. They happened to have a pal working on set, who could neither confirm or deny that a partnership was in the works. It doesn’t take much to get whisky geeks chatting. So when Ford was confirmed as the new face of the brand at an under-embargo screening earlier this month, it didn’t come as a huge surprise. 

What did raise eyebrows was the campaign itself. (If you haven’t seen it yet, you can here.) The scale, the messaging, and the sheer departure for Glenmorangie. Up until now, the brand had aligned itself with the powerfully inclusive, strikingly colourful Miles Aldridge-shot campaign, It’s Kind of Delicious and Wonderful. 

Once Upon a Time in Scotland marks a turning point. And not just because the sepia-toned, muted hues speak to a totally different palette. Instead of a bold imaginarium, the campaign is set at the distillery itself with the production team, as well as at Ardross Castle (yes, the very same one made famous in The Traitors). That might be the one reference to anything remotely resembling the zeitgeist. ‘Timeless’ might be a word with positive connotations, but here it feels a little unmoored.

So what does the campaign comprise, aside from one of the most famous actors in the world? In short, a 12-episode mini-film series, directed by Australian actor and filmmaker, Joel Edgerton. There’s online video, connected TV, and out-of-home formats, plus experiential, PR and social media activity. Six full-length episodes have dropped as of today, with the rest rolling out throughout 2025. Glenmorangie CEO Caspar MacRae confirmed at the preview screening that this was a three-year campaign, suggesting there was much more to come from the Ford-Edgerton partnership. 

“If you're anyone of any generation, you know who Harrison Ford is,” MacRae said as he introduced the campaign to the small group of gathered journalists at the London event. The aim, he said, was to show people the home of the whisky, through Ford’s eyes. It’s intended to be a showcase of Scotland and Scotch whisky, as much as the distillery. For his part, Ford said the team were “all great” to work with. “The whole process of filming was full of unanticipated joys.” 

It’s supposed to be irreverent. “There’s an element of self-parody,” MacRae stressed. So much so that it reminded me a little of Nick Offerman’s turn for Lagavulin, and even more so of Bill Murray’s 2003 Lost in Translation character. He plays ageing actor Bob Harris, forced to show up as a Suntory whisky brand ambassador – the Once Upon a Time in Scotland plot is not dissimilar. I put this to MacRae at the event. “It's very knowingly playing with some of the stereotypes of whisky,” he responds. He’s not clear on the creative stimuli for Edgerton. “But if one of them was Lost in Translation, that's not a bad creative inspiration. It is a very good one.”

While the film certainly shows the stunning beauty of Scotland, it feels confused, like it doesn’t really have a point. As far as responsible drinking guidelines go, it’s free-pouring throughout, and in one sequence I’m pretty sure Ford gets behind the wheel after having a dram. (UPDATE: A representative for Glenmorangie sent the following: “At no point was [drink driving] done during the filming or meant to be implied. The episode with the car and sealed bottle in the seat deliberately didn’t have drinking in it for that exact reason.”]

The campaign plot is a story and a discussion point in itself. But more interestingly for me, it says a good amount about the state of the struggling Scotch industry. Scotch Whisky Association figures showed that exports plummeted by 18% in the first half of 2024. Financial results from the big players make for near-universal grim reading. Glenmorangie’s parent company LVMH is due to publish its own 2024 results later on today. So this is what Scotch looks like in early 2025 through a Once Upon a Time in Scotland lens.

Ford takes a trip to Scotland in the new campaign

Scotch is playing it safe

Harrison Ford is undoubtedly a big-name booking. It's a coup for Glenmorangie, with MacRae proudly noting that the actor doesn’t just sign up to promote any brand. There is, it can be assumed, a genuine authenticity piece there. And sure, he does have broad recognition across age demographics. But he doesn’t bring anything new to the Scotch whisky party. It’s a casting decision that plays to the established Scotch audience.

MacRae doesn’t disagree. “It talks to people who are already engaged in whisky,” he said at the preview screening. “We wanted to make sure that as well as bringing people into the category, we were also talking to people who already have a love for single malt Scotch whisky or really good whiskies.” 

But he refutes that the company is now proceeding with caution, especially after the ripple effects of It’s Kind of Delicious and Wonderful. “I don't think we're playing it safe.” The world is, he says, “different” from when it was six years ago when the former campaign was taking shape. “Lots of consumers were seeking to premiumise their drinking experience, and there was a recognition that single malt whisky was probably the most premium category in the world.” Has there been that much of a shift?

“The category isn't growing quite as much as it was, and also premiumisation is being replaced by some tension for consumers having to justify the quality of their choice and their drinking choice.” To me, doubling down on those more conventional, luxury cues does feel like a run for safety. 

‘Diversity’ is out

Perhaps this was always going to be this way after such an unapologetically, intentionally inclusive campaign. It’s Kind of Delicious and Wonderful felt groundbreaking in terms of representation. Dialling that back in favour of having one white, older extremely wealthy man as the protagonist in a whisky ad immediately feels like a handbrake turn.

Perhaps I am especially sensitive to this given the recent roll-back of diversity, equity and inclusion policies at other whisky businesses. That isn’t Glenmorangie’s fault, I told myself after the big actor reveal. But then we watched the first few episodes in the series. I was struck by how few women had speaking parts in the script. 

“Is there a greater balance of speaking roles for women in the other episodes that we haven't seen yet?” I asked the panel, well aware that some episodes were still being kept under wraps. Aside from master blender Gillian MacDonald, I counted two other women’s voices, including the hospitality staff member where Ford is staying. 

“We cast people from the distillery, the distillery teams,” MacRae said. “We hope there's a good representation of our teams and a fair representation of our teams in the narrative. But the narrative does follow Harrison's voyage of discovery. And I think there's a balance across the episodes.” Without seeing the series in full, it’s hard to feel satisfied by that response. It’s hard not to contrast Once Upon a Time in Scotland against It’s Kind of Delicious and Wonderful in this context. 

When the former campaign launched, “there was also a feeling, ‘I don't feel represented in that category’, or ‘it doesn't feel like it's for people like me’,” MacRae noted, looking back. “That's something that resonated with us.” The attitude, he said, has always been that single malt whisky and Glenmorangie in particular, should be for everyone. “That’s what the campaign was saying.” And now? 

“We still really want to be an open invitation to consumers from around the world. But we also want to remind consumers that actually there is a real substance and craft and authenticity and quality to our product that is worth paying more for.” 

He continued: “It's a different aspect of what we wanted to tell. I don't think there's been a change in strategies, more so we wanted to cast our light on a different aspect of our story.” It’s a telling shift of focus.

There’s still money around

A more upbeat note to finish on. I don’t know exactly how much talent costs, but I’m willing to bet my remaining drops of Signet Reserve that Harrison Ford’s fee is substantial. For all the export slumps, sales declines, and industry-wide pessimism, Once Upon a Time in Scotland shows that there is still an appetite for big marketing plays. Things just can’t be that bad if budgets can stretch to A-list Hollywood stars.

It’s clearly a worrying time for whisky-makers. But I don’t think the answer is to go backwards. The Harrison Ford campaign is, in many ways, attention-grabbing. But it feels like a missed opportunity for Glenmorangie to stand out in an increasingly spooked market.

This post was updated on 29 January to include a response from a Glenmorangie representative regarding commentary around drink-driving.