Sometimes less is more. A new Guinness ad used to be a major event, but the second new film in a few weeks is a bit of a letdown, despite the big build-up it got from Diageo.

After the earthy vigour of ‘Painting the town black’ - celebrating the annual branding bonanza that is Arthur’s Day - comes ‘Cloud’, a strangely limp attempt at whimsy that’s not so much bad as simply underwhelming.

It premiered today on Guinness GB’s Facebook page, with a run on TV and in cinemas to start later this week. You can watch the advert here.

“We think the new brand creative will resonate with people who are open-minded and alive to opportunity and it will inspire them to never settle for the ordinary,” said senior brand manager Nick Britton.

“The idea of something being ‘made of more’ is one that really reflects a shared attitude Guinness has with its drinkers. It’s not defined by a single age, class or demographic. This new creative direction for the brand presents great territory to connect with consumers that never settle for the ordinary.”

Quotes in press releases are always best taken with a pinch or three of salt but that interpretation is harder to swallow than the seventeenth pint of the black stuff with which Daily Bread celebrated last weekend’s Ryder Cup win.

The agency behind the ad says further creatives will show “a spider [spinning] an extraordinary web… and a woodpecker [fashioning] an extraordinary house”. “This campaign is about that choice. Do we settle for the way things are or do we take the bold choice to step up and be made of more? Do we settle for an ordinary drink or do we choose one that is made of more?”

Admittedly, the stout is now a global brand for a company increasingly relying on emerging markets for growth. So wouldn’t it be all the more more ‘extraordinary’ of Diageo to play up the Irish roots for its next advertising spectacular?

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