Oddbins unveils bondage-themed gin advert

Living up to its reputation for bizarre videos, UK wine retailer Oddbins has launched a new ‘Cocktails with a Twist’ campaign with a bondage-themed tutorial on how to make a Kiwi Envy using Aviation American gin.

Designed to present its customers with cocktails to “satisfy all tastes”, the video features a woman, later revealed to be a dominatrix, making a Kiwi Envy, in a rather seductive manner, before throwing it in the face of a man clad in leather and a gimp mask.

Known for its bizarre online video campaigns, the point of its ‘Cocktails with a twist’ campaign, according to Lyndsey Gibbons, Oddbins’ marketing manager, was to reach out to customers who don’t currently shop with Oddbins, having seen a significant uptake in sales following its most recent Christmas campaign.

Its equally off-beat 2016 Christmas campaign, entitled ‘12 Chimps of Christmas‘, saw a dozen anarchic chimpanzees taking over its stores. Voiced by actors, the chimps are seen breaking into a wine store and decorating it for Christmas, only to fling faeces at the store manager when they get caught, prompting the tagline ‘Give a sh*t this Christmas”.

That campaign followed its ‘Follow the Fox‘ campaign in 2015, a purposely low-key campaign video designed to contrast with the blockbuster Christmas advertisements favoured by most big British retailers. It was fronted by Broadchurch actor Olivia Coleman and raised money for charity through a silent auction of its fox dolls, which appeared in the windows of Oddbins stores across the country.

This will be the first in a series of YouTube cocktail tutorials that Oddbins say will provide “straight up advice with a twist”.

“Everyone knows Oddbins for its wine and craft beer range,” said Oddbins marketing manager, Lyndsey Gibbons.

“This video is designed to highlight our unique spirits proposition as well”, adding: “In a dangerous world that’s gone completely off its rocker, ‘Oddbins’ is as good a safe word as any.”