Monkey Shoulder:
Monkey Musk

• Concept

  Monkey Shoulder is a Whisky that’s NOT like the others. Its mission is to stand out in the market and subvert everything you thought you knew about Whisky: the antiquated traditions, the leather sofas, the rules, etc.

  So with this in mind, we set out to create Monkey Musk: The first-ever unisex cologne inspired by the scents of Whisky so you could finally smell like Whisky with pride. We broke the cardinal hygiene rule as well as any other cologne category convention we could think of along the way.

  But a fragrance is only as good as its model. A friend of the brand, Joel McHale, continued his relationship with Monkey Shoulder by joining us as the ‘face’ of Monkey Musk. Joel led the charge to normalize “smelling like whisky” by starring in a spoof perfume print ad that aimed to poke fun at all the over-the-top visuals we’ve come accustomed to seeing for fragrances. The imagery led as our primary distribution, providing various visuals of Joel McHale supported by our master press release that broke down how we did it, why we did it, and (most importantly) where you can buy the fragrance.

  Our media relations approach was dialed into key verticals that would help us drive mass attention: consumer lifestyle, spirit and advertising trades, general news, and entertainment, leading to over 40+ stories in top-tier outlets including Rolling Stone, Robb Report, Delish, AdWeek, BroBible, and more.

• Services

  Creative Ideation
  PR Strategy
  Media Relations

• Team

  Joel McHale
  RTO+P
  Crafting Beauty Inc.

• Discipline

  Entertainment
  Lifestyle
  Food & Beverage