Woodford Reserve’s Socially Distant Ode To ‘Old Kentucky Home’ At An Empty Churchill Downs

With the Kentucky Derby postponed until September, the race’s bourbon brand partner and broadcaster NBC sought to keep some of the event’s traditions alive on the first Saturday in May – the day the race is usually run.

With the Churchill Downs stands and track empty and silent due to the coronavirus outbreak, race presenting partner Woodford Reserve made use of the unusual solitude in a new ad that was accompanied by a stirring rendition of ‘My Old Kentucky Home’ played in the empty winner’s circle by Kentucky cellist Ben Sollee.

The track, originally penned by Stephen Collins Foster and published back in 1853, has been performed at the Derby since the early 20^th Century and in recent year has always been led by The University of Louisville marching band (which this year created its own virtual version on it’s official Facebook page).

The bourbon brand’s rearranged version tweaked some of the song’s lyrics: moving the line “by and by hard times come a-knocking at my door” near the beginning as the creative felt that the verse speaks to the current period of hardship brought on by the pandemic.

Nevertheless, the ad ends on a positive note with the copy “here’s to running again in September.”

The ad, conceived and created by agency Energy BBDO, debuted on Saturday 2 May during NBC’s re-airing of the classic 2015 Derby (which marked the start of American Pharoah’s run to the Triple Crown) and its three hours of race programming which climaxed with a socially distant, computer-simulated edition of the Run for the Roses which pitted all 13 Triple Crown winners against one other”.

“It’s amazing that a song from 1850 speaks so perfectly to this moment in time,” commented Energy BBDO co-chief creative officers Josh Gross and Pedro Perez.

The ad was shot by a small team to ensure no more than four people were on location at a time to respect the state social distancing rules, while a pair of drones were used to capture aerial shots.

The agency’s internal studio Flare worked on post-production and the team created the ad in just two weeks – from conception to final approval.

“When we started to work from home, two months ago, the thought of doing remote edit sessions seemed really time-consuming,” said Casey Cobler, managing editor at Flare. “The reality has been that we are just as fast, if not faster, than when everyone was at the agency. Technology allows us to involve everyone in the process from creative to account to strategy without having to send cuts around the office awaiting a response.”

Woodford Reserve also participated in what Churchill Downs billed as a virtual “at-home celebration” on Saturday with events including virtual tours of the Derby Museum streamed on the Derby’s social media channels and a brand content initiative which saw a Mint Julep masterclass from the bourbon’s master distiller Chris Morris which culminated in a “global live toast to the Derby” streamed on the brand’s YouTube channel.

Plus the brand, as per usual, created a limited edition, special 2020 race bottle and packaging in March.

Outcome:

The spearhead spot itself generated impressive social statistics since it was first posted on the brand’s own channels on 29 April with 4m views on YouTube, 283k on Facebook.

While the Mint Julep masterclass spot generated 10k views on Facebook/YouTube and the brand’s 30-minute ‘Bourbon, Horses & History: Stories and Cocktail Classes’ live stream attracted 47k views on Facebook.

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Links:

Woodford Reserve

www.woodfordreserve.com/

Kentucky Derby / Churchill Downs

http://www.kentuckyderby.com/

https://www.instagram.com/kentuckyderby/

https://twitter.com/KentuckyDerby

https://www.facebook.com/KentuckyDerby

https://www.youtube.com/user/woodfordreserve

NBC

https://www.nbc.com/

Energy BBDO

http://energybbdo.com/en