Inside the Marketing Savvy of the World’s Lightest Whiskey Bottle

Claiming that a product is the world’s most ___________ is the most common marketing gateway to empty hyperbole that is sure to inspire plenty of eyerolling. There’s something a bit unusual, though, about Johnnie Walker’s latest announcement. For one thing, they offer these magic three words: “what we believe” in front of their claim. They go on in their product landing page to share that “according to our research, it is also believed to be the world’s lightest 700ml Scotch Whisky glass bottle ever released to market.” There are only 888 bottles in existence. No price is listed.

Global Brand Director Jennifer English goes on to explain that the bottle is more than just a stunt to get attention … it’s also an example of the research the brand is doing around creating more lightweight bottles to reduce its carbon footprint. And the special Blue Ultra whiskey itself has an intriguing combination of flavor notes, including blending whiskies from the so-called “ghost distilleries” of Scotland (distilleries which have long since disappeared from productive life but whose whiskies still exist in casks waiting to be bottled or re-discovered). Why does this work?