Surfer (advertisement)


Surfer is a integrated advertising campaign launched in 1999 by Diageo to promote Guinness-brand draught stout in the United Kingdom. The cornerstone of the campaign is a television commercial, originally 60 seconds long, which centred on a Polynesian surfer successfully taking on a gigantic wave. Shot in Hawaii over a nine-day period and directed by Jonathan Glazer, the piece went on to win more awards than any other commercial in 1999, and in 2002 was voted the "Best ad of all time" in a poll conducted by Channel 4 and The Sunday Times.
The plot centers on a group of surfers, waiting for the perfect wave. As it arrives, the crashing 'white horses' turn into actual horses. One by one, a surfer 'crashes out', leaving only one, who manages to conquer the wave. The others join him as they celebrate on the shore.
The advert was inspired by Walter Crane's 1893 painting "Neptune's Horses". The text also draws inspiration from Herman Melville's novel Moby Dick, including the line "Ahab says, 'I don't care who you are, here's to your dream.'".
The music track in the advert was created by British band Leftfield and eventually this formed the basis of their track "Phat Planet" which appears on their 1999 album Rhythm and Stealth. Its use in the advertisement lead to the song appearing on several compilation albums of music from advertisements including Classic Ads, I Love TV Ads and Guinness 250: Music from the TV Ads.
An extended 90-second version is available on the 2005 DVD .
In November 2009, The Independent named the advertisement, alongside several other advertisements in the campaign, amongst the "greatest advertising of all time".

Accolades

CreatorCountryAccoladeYearRankSource
Channel 4 and The Sunday TimesUnited KingdomThe 100 Greatest TV Ads20001
ITVUnited KingdomITV's Best Ever Ads20056
The MirrorUnited KingdomThe Top Ten Greatest Ever Guinness Adverts2009*
Business PunditUnited StatesThe 10 Most Creative Commercials Ever20116
EmpireUnited Kingdom15 Amazing Adverts from 15 Amazing Directors2011*
AdweekUnited States10 Most-Viral Guinness Commercials Ever20125
Mashable UKUnited Kingdom20 Most-Shared Guinness Ads on YouTube20126
The SavoryUnited StatesTop 10 Guinness Commercials20141
CinematicaUnited KingdomTop 10 Best Adverts Ever Made20143

The asterisk denotes an unordered list.

Additional credits