Guinness is celebrating its newly signed sponsorship of the Women's Six Nations with a TV ad starring a pair of professional rugby players who are both rivals, and sisters.
Breaking this evening on video-on-demand and social media, "Sisters" tells the real-life story of Harriet and Bridget Millar-Mills, who respectively played for the England and Scotland national teams in 2013.
The 30-second spot was created by Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO. It opens with a still to the left side of the screen of a school changing room. A single rugby shirt hangs from a peg.
"I started playing rugby when I was nine," a female voiceover says. "To keep me company, my sister came with me."
A second still featuring another shirt in the same colours appears on the right side of the screen.
"To begin with, we'd only pass the ball to each other," says the second sister.
As the siblings tell viewers of how their game progressed as they aged, the shirts in the stills become bigger. "We got older. And we got better."
More split images play across the screen – trophies on the mantelpiece, tackles on the pitch.
"Then one day, I was picked for England," says one of the sisters. "And I got picked for Scotland," says the other.
The sporting action cuts to the sisters standing side by side in their respective kits. "After that we didn't pass the ball to each other."
The ad ends with on-screen text reading: "Harriet & Bridget Millar-Mills. Rivals. Always sisters."
"Sisters" was created by Tim Riley and directed by Tubby Brother through Tubby Brother Films. The media agency was Carat.
The new ad marks the latest marketing push around Guinness becoming the first official sponsor of the Women's Six Nations in 2019. It is part of the Diageo-owned brand's "Made of more" ongoing campaign and comes exactly a month after Guinness launched "The purse", an ad telling a tale of another pair of rugby-playing siblings.
Niall McKee, head of Guinness Europe, said: "Harriet and Bridget have both had exceptional careers in rugby and no doubt the greatest experience was representing their country against each other in the 2013 Women’s Six Nations.
"We’re proud to be able to tell their story, especially in our first year as official partner of Women’s Six Nations."
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