Halewood International Ltd: The Pogues Irish Whiskey by Them London

Chiswick-based creative ideas business Them London has rebranded The Pogues Irish Whiskey to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the band’s iconic Christmas anthem ‘Fairytale of New York’.

Punk band The Pogues and West Cork Distillers joined forces in 2015 to create a new authentic Irish whisky. After initially promising sales post launch, the brand has lacked traction with whisky drinkers and really needed a re-think to make it a contender in the Irish whiskey category.

Building on some spirit branding work produced for Black Bottle Whiskey, Them London was brought in by Halewood. Working within tight budget constraints Them London focused on leveraging the essence of The Pogues Irish culture, storytelling, poetry and Celtic heritage, and drew inspiration form their irreverent reputation, poetic lyricism and the stories that are woven through all their music.

Them London has created new edgy Irish whisky brand for the savvy consumer with a contemporary visual language and style of its own. Alongside developing a modern take on Celtic symbolism, illustrative characters were produced to represent the distillery and the band’s essence: a streetwise Celtic punk, pierced ear, feather in hat, imbued with artistic irreverence with a keenness for gambling and whiskey.

The characters have a light and dark side to represent the music of The Pogues, which is upbeat with definite shady undertones. The Christmas edition of the whiskey that celebrates the infamous hit includes an illustrated tin and booklet revealing the story behind the song.