Bacardi has released a short film called “The Angel’s Share” that highlights the sunny, Caribbean home of its new premium rum collection. This marks the first digital ad campaign for Bacardi Reservo Ocho. The spot was co-directed by actor/filmmaker Michael B. Jordan (Black Panther) and Emmy award-winning music video director Paul Hunter.

In the alcoholic beverage business, there is a saying that any alcohol that evaporates during the distillery process is referred to as “the angel’s share.” Bacardi’s new campaign of the same name tells the myth of sun angels—heavenly beings that help themselves to the rum evaporating inside barrels. Because the Caribbean is so sunny, and Bacardi rum is aged outdoors, it evaporates more than other spirits, the film claims.

Bacardi first connected with Jordan during No Commission, the brand’s art event last year. When it came time to produce “The Angel’s Share,” they invited him to take part.

“Watching Michael on set during the shoot was amazing,” said Roberto Ramirez Laverde, vice president of Bacardi for North America. “He has an eye for storytelling and was extremely adept at bringing the story to life.”

“Angel’s Share” consists of one main film called “Myth of the Sun Angels” which has been cut into three shorter chapters: Taste, Provenance and Heritage. Each chapter follows a different character: a Maestro de Ron, a bartender and a Bacardi family member – who each tell their own version of the angel’s share story.

The campaign will run through connected TV channels like NFL, DirecTV, Turner, Sling and ESPN), YouTube channels Vevo, Condé Nast and Complex as well as OTT via Hulu, ABC, CBS, NBC and Univision. Bacardi will also promote the campaign on its owned channels alongside Jordan’s personal Instagram.

In addition to digital channels, Bacardi will run out-of-home (OOH) in New York, Miami, Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington D.C. and Atlanta markets.

Bacardi is hoping to garner attention for its premium portfolio with the new campaign. Earlier this year, the brand added Añejo Cuatro and Gran Reserva Diez to its pre-existing Gran Reserva Limitada series and redesigned the packaging for Reserva Ocho.

Now is a good time to bolster Bacardi’s premium offerings, as spirits experience a surge in revenue. In 2017, supplier sales of whiskeys, rums, vodkas, and other spirits rose four percent to a new high of $26.2 billion. This growth is fueled in part by millennials’ taste for premium spirits, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS).

Alcoholic “leftovers” have become a common topic of marketing lately. While evaporated alcohol goes to the angels, whatever soaks into the barrels becomes the “devil’s cut,” according to Jim Beam. The bourbon brand began extracting and bottling the wood-soaked liquid in 2011 and marketed it with the help of actress Mila Kunis.

https://youtu.be/DAYavks3kro?list=PLhPN4xoAclyG5eg5QH1OyT5hIPtgdxE9E