McKinlay and Co.: Whiskey in the rocks

Posted by Bert Callens on November 18, 2009 2 comments

This is the story of two crates that never made their destination… It all began with Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (1874–1922), an Irish explorer who was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.



Shackleton’s first experience of the polar regions was in 1901, but due problems with his health he was sent home early. Determined to make amends for this personal failure, he returned to Antarctica in 1907 as leader of the Nimrod Expedition. The mission was a success but something didn’t go as planned…
Shackleton wanted some whiskey to keep his crew and himself warm, but the two crates of McKinlay and Co. were lost during shipment. They never found it back until now.

Restoration workers found the crates of whiskey under the hut’s floorboards in 2006. At the time, the crates and bottles were too deeply embedded in ice to be dislodged. Whyte & Mackay, the drinks group that now owns McKinlay and Co. has decided to sent a team to dig out the two crates. Workers from New Zealand’s Antarctic Heritage Trust will use special drills to reach the crates, frozen in Antarctic ice under the Nimrod Expedition hut near Cape Royds.
The New Zealanders have agreed to try to retrieve some bottles, although the rest must stay under conservation guidelines agreed by 12 Antarctic Treaty nations.



According to Richard Paterson, Whyte & Mackay’s master blender, the Shackleton expedition’s whiskey could still be drinkable and taste exactly as it did 100 years ago. The New Zealanders have agreed with the Scottish Whiskey lovers, to give them some bottles. The rest of the crates must stay under conservation guidelines agreed by 12 Antarctic Treaty nations. “Even if most of the bottles have to remain in Antarctica for historic reasons, it would be good if we could get a couple,” Paterson said.
If the team can dig out the two crates, Whyte & Mackay will do a series of tests that could decide whether to relaunch the now-defunct scotch…

I’m asking myself: Is this a genious marketing-trick, or is is just coincidence? Because one way or another, they found a gold-mine.. If they find the two crates and make a new line of “Vintage Scottish Whiskey”, the Whiskey lovers will give all their money to taste it. Even I, as an amateur whiskey drinker would give all my money to taste some McKinlay and Co.
Because whiskey with a story just drinks better..

Company: McKinlay and Co.
Country: United Kingdom United Kingdom

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Rating: 4.3/5 (8 votes cast)

Logo comparison Pepsi vs Coca Cola

Posted by Rindert Dalstra on October 8, 2009 No comments yet

It has been more than six months that soft drink producer Pepsi has its new logo. Apparently brand agency Arnell was given 1 million dollars and months time to come up with the new logo. Not that I don’t like the logo but the idea behind it is extremely ridiculous. Their brand document counts 27 pages and if you look at it you really start wondering why they were given 1 million dollars.




They were probably finished after two weeks and then started to create the document because they were bored. The Nike logo known as the swoosh was created by Carolyn Davidson and she submitted a bill for $35 for her work.

And if you compare the changes over the years between the Coca Cola logo and Pepsi you will see that Coca Cola saved a lot of money =) That image is ofcourse not true, if you look at this image you can see that there have been made some changes to the Coca Cola logo over the years as well. They are just less dramatic.

Company: Pepsi
Agency: Arnell
Country: USA USA

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Rating: 4.4/5 (12 votes cast)

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