{Editor’s Note: We got several requests for the text of the ad, so we’re including it below.}
LOCAL NEWS — Postcards from Lynchburg is the longest-running campaign in advertising history. Since the 1950’s, the ads have featured such notables as Queen Victoria and Frank Sinatra. Recently, a new ad appeared featuring non-other than Metro Mayor Bonnie Lewis.
With a photo featuring Mayor Lewis standing beside the Jack Daniel label mural on the side of the Harley Davidson building, the headline reads, “Jack provided a little town spirit. Bonnie keeps the town running.”
“It’s such a huge milestone in my life,” Mayor Lewis said on her personal social media page. “I am so humbled and thankful for those who helped in the long, hot campaign. Chris and the crew with Arnold did a wonderful job, as usual.”
The ads appear as a series of non-fiction short stories meant to help those who “aren’t from around here” learn more about the people and the famous, tiny little town where Jack Daniel’s whiskey is made.
Over the years, they’ve educated folks across the pond about tons of interesting tidbits about our town … like the fact that it’s a dry county or that there’s a single stop light.
It’s become a piece of advertising Americana meant to emphasize that one of the world’s most recognizable brands is only made in one place by a unique cast of characters. For decades, they also ran as print ads in American publications. Now, just like our local product, the ads only appear in one place, the London Underground.
The campaign is produced by Jack Daniel’s longtime ad agency, Arnold Worldwide. •
“Lynchburg is what it is today because Jack Daniel found a spring of clear, iron-free water right here a little over 150 years ago. Perfect for making Tennessee sippin’ whiskey, he wisely established his distillery at the mouth of that cave spring, and ever since then Lunchburg has been home to exactly the kind of people you’d imagine live in a town that makes Jack Daniel’s.
“One of those characters is Bonnie Lewis. She’s the newly-elected mayor of 572 Lynchburgians, one stoplight, and the folks responsible for making all the Jack Daniel’s Whiskey in the world. Before she was mayor, she was editor of the town newspaper, a certified BBQ judge, and proud employee of Jack Daniel Distillery. That means she knows a thing or two about our whiskey. For instance, why it’s a Tennessee Whiskey as opposed to any other whiskey (charcoal mellowing), what type of wood we use to make our barrels (American white oak), and how you should drink it (any way you want). Bonnie and Jack go way back and even though she’s the mayor now, working with the distillery is still a part of her job.
“The whiskey we make here is quite a draw for folks from points near and far. And that means Bonnie runs a small town that has three hundred thousand or so friends over for a visit each year. It’s no easy task, but she’s never met a challenge or a friend, that she’d turn away. So she makes sure things go down as smooth as Tennessee Whiskey. Just the way Jack would have wanted it to be.
“So, next time you’re down in Lynchburg, head over to the courthouse. Look for Mayor Bonnie, and make sure you thank her for taking care of the folks who take care of making the whiskey.”
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