Deaf Dancer Chris Fonseca Stars in Latest Smirnoff Campaign

Smirnoff is launching the next chapter of its successful ‘We’re Open’ campaign, which went live on 18th March.

The next chapter tells the story of Chris Fonseca, an inspiring deaf dance teacher from London, who teaches other deaf dancers that there are other ways to enjoy music beyond just hearing it. Celebrating inclusivity, the £4million fully integrated campaign will see ‘We’re Open’ on TV for the very first time from 21st March, pre­seeded through social media from 18th March and widespread out of home (OOH) support going live from 28th March.

The 40 second TV advert introduces Chris Fonseca and his story to the nation as he explains that he has always wanted to be a dancer. Using a documentary style approach, the creative profiles Chris and his class of deaf dancers, showing how the group can feel the beat on the dancefloor, just like everyone else.

The OOH creative will run across GB from 28th March for two weeks and include a series of executions that celebrate Chris Fonseca and the community of deaf dancers through simple but bold headlines, including ‘Deaf or not, everyone can dance​’, ‘I don’t feel the music but I feel the beat’​, and ‘Nobody knows we’re deaf on the dancefloor​’.

Chris Fonseca commented:​“It’s great to be able to share my story with so many people. I want to highlight that everyone can do what they love – no matter what obstacles may seem to be in their way. Dance is a best friend of mine, it goes through everything with me. To dance is a beautiful feeling ­ my medicine of stress release! Every challenge and barrier I’ve experienced has been overcome by dance.”

Julie Bramham, Smirnoff Marketing Director, says: “We are privileged to work with someone as inspiring as Chris and are delighted to be able to help celebrate and share his story at scale through our ‘We’re Open’ campaign. The campaign will run across a number of culturally relevant, innovative channels, and we’re excited to launch this next step in our campaign to celebrate diversity and move people to be more inclusive.”

Nic Owen, Managing Director at 72andsunny Amsterdam says:​ "We're Open is all about celebrating how inclusivity makes the world more fun. We're proud to partner with Chris ­ his passion and spirit sets an example to us all." 

Full Credits

Diageo (Smirnoff)

SVP Smirnoff Global: Matt Bruhn

SVP Content: Tim Parkinson

Director of Global Marketing: Ignacio Navarro

Global Senior Brand Manager: Eileen Hanna

Western Europe Marketing Director: Julie Bramham

Western Europe Senior Brand Manager: Daniel Hatton

Western Europe Brand Manager: Hannah Curtis

72andSunny NY & Amsterdam

Executive Creative Director: Guillermo Vega / Carlo Cavallone / Stuart Harkness

Creative Director/Writer: Brandon Pierce / Simon Schmitt

Creative Director/Designer: Adolfo Alcala / Emiliano Trierveiler

Senior Designer: David Goss

Senior Writer: Mikio Bradley

Designer: Renee Lam

Writer: Lee Boulton

Strategy Director: Tom Callard

Strategist: Alexandra Matine

Group Brand Director: Karla Stewart / Jack Allen

Brand Director: Andy Silva

Senior Brand Manager: Emily Hoyle / Su May Tan

Brand Coordinator: Sarah Consagra

Head of Production: Lora Schulson

Senior Film Producer: Kim Cross / Nili Zadok

Senior Art Producer: Sabrina Bajaj / Nili Zadok

Business Affairs Director: Julie Balster

Business Affairs Manager: Laura Fraser / Nora Adams

Epoch 

Director: Zachary Heinzerling

Executive Producer: Melissa Culligan

Line Producer: Jonathan Wang 

Director of Photography: Stuart Winecoff

Production Designer: Marco Puig

Editor / New York: Sam Ostrove, Ben McCambridge / Cut N Run

Editor / Amsterdam: Flossy Films, Fiona Fuchs

Sound Designer/Mixer  Amsterdam: Nick Smith, Stainless Sound

Sound Designer/Mixer New York: Heard City

Glassworks

TK Operator: Matt Hare

Flame Operator: Philip Huis In 't Veld

Producer: Lauren Becker

Colorist: Tom Poole @ CO3

Photographer: Ben Rayner

Retouching: Loupe Imaging