Baby It's You

I have given up alcohol for nigh on 14 years but the fertile creative minds behind advertisements in the alcohol industry have given us many classic and memorable ads (Guinness have produced consistently high quality ads over the years IMHO). It’s almost exactly a year since the release of one of my favourite ads which I had a chance to see again tonight – Peroni Nastro Azzurro’s La Dolce Vita . Ma ma mia! Linking Italian style and class to their product, UK’s number-one premium Italian lager paid homage to the maestro Fellini by re-creating iconic scenes from the film. The full five minute version can be seen at the Peroni website which also includes a ten minute podcast of the star of the original film, Anita Ekberg.

To me it’s a perfect fusion of stunning black and white photography, subtle lighting, ‘60s couture fashion, a slow kinetic poetry and the awesome use of the popular 1961 top ten hit of the Shirelles, "Baby it’s you", here sung by Maria Antonio. This beautiful classic was reverentially covered by the Beatles in 1963 with Lennon on lead vocals but he admitted in a ‘70s interview rightfully that the original was still the better version.

But to pull off this montage of Italian style, it had to be all convincingly tied up by a breathtaking blonde and in that director Ian Cassie of The Bank did find his mesmerizing muse. Like her admirer visually entranced by her, the audience is invited into the magic moment of seeing her elegantly step off the plane, twirl, bathe and bask in the admiration of the paparazzi. Peroni went so far as to get permission from the Italian government to film in the Trevi Fountain – which hasn’t been done since Fellini in 1959! Bellissimo!!!