J.A. Baczewski "The last bottle" (2015) 4:17 (Poland)

A 94 year old Polish man, Stefan Plazek stole J.A. Baczewski vodka throughout World War Two. Who cares, he justified, if he was stealing from the Germans and then later soviet occupants. Besides, that fetched a pretty penny on the black market, meaning he could survive by slowly emptying the warehouse stash. Years passed, friends and family passed, and many bottles passed, until there was only one left. He decided to return his last pilfered bottle to the company. If the press release is to be believed, what is caught on camera is the first time the 94 year old met the air of the Vodka company. The storytelling is compelling, not the least of which because the J.A. Baczewski vodka company had only recently been revived in Poland after operating outside the country for 72 years. Mr Plazek's gesture touched the company heir so much he donated the last bottle to the museum of Vodka in Warsaw.
98% of the time, branded content is just too damn long. Other times, the subject matter justifies the length. This is one of those times. This kind of story telling elevates advertising to art. The fact it's coming out of Poland is fantastic. I love it when countries that aren't necessarily known for advertising in the way that the USA, UK, Brazil are, come up and sucker punch us with this level of creativity. Great work.

Advertised brand: J.A. Baczewski
Advertising Agency: LVOV, Warsaw, Poland
Agency website: http://lvov.pl
Creative Director: Katarzyna Sosnierz, Wojciech Dagiel
Art Director: Wojciech Dagiel
Copywriter: Katarzyna Sosnierz
Illustrator: Wojciech Dagiel
Director: Marcin Koszalka
Photographer: Marcin Koszalka
Digital Creative Director: Andrzej Jakubczyk