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Pisco / Feature Articles

By Diana P. Olano

As a thank you to the countries and foreign agencies who donated aid to Peru after the catastrophic August 15 earthquake, Peru's government officials sent a bottle of pisco—Peru's pride and joy when it comes to liquors—to show their gratitude. The spirit derives its name from one of the cities hit hardest by the earthquake. The seemingly brilliant initiative backfired when the name of the special edition brandy was revealed: Pisco 7.9, the magnitude of the quake.

"It seems like a joke done in bad taste, with a touch of dark humor," commented media outlets such as La Republica. Public outrage was immediate, especially considering the label's text was an apparent acknowledgement from the city of Pisco itself: "The Thousand-year-old city of Pisco would like to show its eternal gratitude for your support during the August 15 earthquake of 2007."

People wondered if Peru's public officials, in particular, Production Minister Rafael Rey, had completely lost their minds. Blogs were abuzz with activity the day of Pisco 7.9's showcase, with people voicing their opinions on the regrettable idea. "You'd either have to be mentally-challenged or an idiot to come up with an idea that basically commemorates a day associated with such sadness," wrote one reader on Lima-based daily El Comercio "Ud. Opina" online section. As of today, the blog has received close to 600 responses from people expressing their support, but mostly surprise, embarrassment and anger at Rey's distasteful proposal.

As if trying to save Peru from losing more face in light of the "Pisco 7.9" backlash, El Comercio challenged marketing agencies to come up with campaigns directed towards foreigners, people who had never heard of pisco, never tasted an exquisite-tasting Pisco Sour. Most importantly, however, was to come up with a concept that would represent the complete opposite of what "Pisco 7.9" eventually represented. The results, said El Comercio, were not what they were expecting. Four agencies were featured in the paper's September 14th issue. The simplest, and yet, most striking ad came from Pragma DDB, located in San Isidro. General Brand Director Alberto Goachet and Creative Director Ricardo Chadwick were gracious enough to meet with me to discuss what went wrong with "Pisco 7.9", how they came up with their campaign and the future of pisco.

What was wrong with Production Minister Rafael Rey's idea?

Goachet: The idea itself was right. It was the lack of sensitivity in naming the project that was the problem. Nobody thinks he did it on purpose… he used a number that is associated with a disaster. Basically it was just the name that was the issue.

Could the number 7.9 have been used at all?

http://filer.livinginperu.com/events/img/ricardo-chadwick.jpg200266

Ricardo Chadwick

Chadwick: Absolutely not! The new production minister was probably blindsided by this "hot" idea he had and just went forward with it without realizing the true idea behind it. It lacked sensitivity.

Goachet: They consulted with the media and from what we heard, the feedback was positive. However, like Ricardo was saying, they went with a "hot" idea before really thinking about it. The same kind of thing will happen here sometimes. However, what we do is put it do the side for a while and then come back to it, to see if the idea is still okay to use. They should've sat on the idea for a bit.

Why do you think people reacted so negatively to the campaign?

Goachet: When it hits close to home and the wound is still fresh, you react more quickly. We experienced it. We actually felt the earthquake. We were worried about our family members, called everyone, made sure they were okay. For example, if after 9/11, Levi Jeans or some company were to come up with a product and named it "9/11 so and so", we might not have reacted as badly as Americans would have, because we were far away from what happened.

Chadwick: However, at the end of all this, those who criticized the idea should move on. It was a good idea that unfortunately died. That shouldn't have happened. They should just change the name... the idea itself was a great one. (Production of the special edition pisco will continue, but with a different name that has yet to be revealed.)

Goachet: All disasters have a good side: the brotherhood, the heroism, and so on. What are the good, positive aspects that came out of what happened? Volunteers from other countries came here to help our brothers. What's the symbolism that came out of that? It represents a way of saying thanks. The (Pisco 7.9) idea that came out of this earthquake was also something positive. It just didn't translate in the same way.

So how did you come up with the idea for your campaign?

Chadwick: Well, El Comercio presented us with the challenge. We took it as an exercise, unfortunately unable to give it the actual time we would give an actual campaign… We wanted a simple idea. We knew it was difficult to complete with internationally-known drinks. We knew countries already have their own drinking habits. We also realized pisco by itself wasn't an easy sell. So, we knew had to replace it with something smoother, softer. And, of course, we have a very different drink that has those characteristics: Pisco Sour. And the great thing is that everyone loves it! We have proof that people like it. And how could they not? It tastes good, its sweet, and its strong towards the end. You feel the power in that last sip. That's what we wanted to sell abroad. That it's strong! Tequila sold itself with the same approach, so we thought pisco could have the same chance. We wanted to make people curious about this powerful cocktail, to wonder if they can handle it.

We then came up with a visual that dramatizes that powerful idea of "people knocked out". That's where the images of the drunken Mexican, Russian and Scot came from. Those countries are known for having strong drinks...

The idea itself isn't really new. We just needed to think of a simple way to present a powerful drink and that's how we did it.

What was the reaction from the public like?

Chadwick: It was a very busy morning (laughs). I received several calls from many people, which wasn't very fair considering the team behind the campaign*... The overall reaction was very good, very positive. However, some also told me it was "very international, but I don't see too much of Peru in it," which I agree is a fair criticism. Some people on the El Comercio blogs took it too seriously, saying we shouldn't put down other countries. But the idea was meant as a joke. It's not as if our beloved, third-world country has the authority to be putting down other countries. It was just our way of putting ourselves in the game, putting ourselves amongst the bigger drinks, telling them "we're not just some third-world country with strange drinks," (laughs) , "we can hold our own too."

What do you think is the future of Pisco?

Chadwick: Find a way to make it easier to drink, like with vodka. People aren't going to take the time to make Pisco Sours all night long at parties because it's not an easy drink to make. Chile has their "Piscola", which is pisco which Coca-Cola. It tastes terrible, but there you go. We need to give our pisco more opportunities like that.


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*Those behind the "Pisco Sour: Not for beginners" campaign:
Agency: Pragma DDB
Creative Director: Ricardo Chadwick
Creative Group: Emilio Díaz, Carlos Quevedo
Art Director: Alvaro Naddeo, Luciano Leone
Brand Director: Alberto Goachet
Production Director: Claudia Quintana
Production and Field Production Agency: Giuliana García
Photographer: Juanjo Rosales
Models: Carlos Quevedo and Juan Carlos Santibáñez Valdés