David Beckham takes the high road for Guy Ritchie whisky ad

David Beckham in Guy Ritchie’s Haig Club whisky ad

David Beckham’s first UK commercial for whisky brand Haig Club is online and breaks on TV on Friday evening. The ad, from Sherlock Holmes director Guy Ritchie, features Beckham and a well-groomed group of friends converging on a Highland estate to share a weekend together. Given Alcohol Concern has given Beckham a bit of stick for promoting a booze brand, after spending most of his football career teetotal, it’s not surprising that he is not actually seen having a sip of the product he helped develop alongside brand Beckham impresario Simon Fuller. In something close to the equivalent of Bill Clinton’s PR dodge of admitting to a puff of a marijuana cigarette but not inhaling, Beckham has embraced the toasting-before-you-drink angle. “I love the tradition of toasting, it’s something I always do with friends and family,” he says in the accompanying PR guff. To further ensure that Brand Beckham remains non-stick, he will also lead a responsible drinking programme, which is “at the heart of the brand”. The shorter TV ad, developed by adam&EveDDB, the agency behind John Lewis’s Christmas tearjerkers, launches on Sky on Friday night. But it still won’t be Suntory Time!