We're Quitting This Gig To Become Pirates.

Sorry y'all. We've had a great run here at TIA, but it has become clear that the only life for us is a pirate's life, and the man responsible is Captain Henry Morgan.

Now, in the past we've ragged pretty heavily on ad campaigns for alcohol, because they're usually incredibly idiotic. Sometimes, however, it actually gets done right. Having said that, its only with their newest advertisements that the Cap'n has actually begun to shine. Commercials for Captain Morgan in the past have been your run-of-the-mill, frat humor laden, mediocre booze ads. So what changed?

To begin, drastically increased production value. The commercials look amazing. Also, there's a kind of ongoing story throughout the ads that, at the very least, is mildly interesting. Captain Henry Morgan is depicted as a handsome "man's man" type of dude, but at the same time is not an incredibly abstract "Chuck Norris" character. He seems like a guy you could swap stories with over a beer. Or, you know...some Captain Morgan. In every mini story, he's the one that keeps everything chill instead of kicking everyone's ass. Whether that's achieved by chucking glasses around or executing a perfect double front flip dive off the plank depends on the commercial.

The soundtrack on many of these ads is amazing. Songs featured include Iggy Pop's "The Passenger" and "Ball and Biscuit" by the White Stripes, and its easy to tell that some thought went into picking the right song for the right scene.

Now, all of that aside, its still apparent that this campaign shares something with its more mediocre counterparts: the commercials still have absolutely nothing to do with the alcohol itself. They serve to build and reinforce an image, just like those murder-inducing Jose Cuervo spots we discussed a few entries back. However, this one actually has some thought behind it, and does NOT try to act as if the things in the actually happen to real people. Also, no one says the word "cue." Not one time. It was great.

We invite you to watch the main ad below, and explore the others that the Cap'n has put out (spoiler alert: shameless Pirates reference). Maybe when you're finished you can help us figure out why all the rum is gone. Savvy?