Minghella makes TV ad return with Guinness campaign

Minghella makes TV ad return with Guinness campaign

LONDON - Anthony Minghella, the director of films including 'The English Patient' and 'Cold Mountain', will direct the new ad for Guinness, part of the 'out of darkness comes light' campaign by Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO.

The ad is being shot in Los Angeles and will air on British TV in the autumn.

The script, which was sent to a select handful of production companies at the same time as "moth", marks a return to the successful pairing of Guinness and horses -- this time, though, on dry land.

The ad will feature wild horses whose hooves kick up clouds of dust, which morph into the swirling bubbles in a pint of Guinness as it settles.

Guinness' "out of darkness comes light" campaign marks a conscious decision by Diageo to get a product shot back into its Guinness advertising, a strategy the company believes is yielding results. On-trade sales of Guinness rose by 2% in April and May this year against the same period last year, according to AC Nielsen figures.

However, this period also coincided with Guinness' sponsorship of both rugby and the St Patrick's Day celebrations in the UK.

Minghella is represented by The Paul Weiland Film Company for commercials in the UK, but rarely steps behind the camera on advertising jobs. While Diageo was keen to get a big-name director for the new commercial, it did not approach Minghella solely for the new spot.

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