Listen, this viral whiskey ad may be old-ish, at least in terms of the internet, but it’s significant for a few reasons:
- The company that made it apparently has a history of supporting LGBTQ initiatives (hey, support AS!),
- It came out for the holigays of 2022 after a year of devastating anti-LGBTQ and anti-trans legislation in the US and around the world, and
- It made everyone on the Autostraddle team cry when they saw it.
Okay so first, before we get to the analysis, go watch the ad!
It’s also, being a largely wordless advert, up to some interpretation. I feel like it can go one of two ways. For one, there is the idea that the grandpa, aware his grandkid will be arriving, sets out on a quest to ensure that his trans grandchild will be welcome and accepted. In this interpretation, obviously, the grandfather has heard anything from a whisper to something more explicit through the family grapevine about the trans grandchild. So, he sets out on a quest to learn the ways of femme makeup and presentation. When his grandkid arrives for a holiday family gathering, a beautiful warm dinner with a table set with candles and plenty of food, he beckons the grandkid into a bathroom where he helps the grandkid to do their makeup. You might think, then, that this grandfather has been practicing, all this time, after all, not because he is trans himself, but because he wanted to show his grandkid love and acceptance. It is an important moment, in either interpretation, when the patriarch of the family emerges with the grandkid and stands with them (or maybe her?) in front of the family, in full support. In the parents’ eyes, I don’t see understanding for the first time, but relief and love, because they know. They know their kid is trans, but now they know the whole family stands with their kid. Now, everyone can have a beautiful holiday.
In the other interpretation, it is not just an altruistic act, but one of seeking connection. In this version, the grandparent is transfem and is learning to apply makeup not just so she can be a supportive grandparent to her grandkid, but for herself. There are many small choices that support this, from the minute acting decisions where the expressions of the actor show a poignant longing, disappointment at less practiced lipstick application and deep satisfaction at more adept application of eye shadow. Then, there is the final moment, when the grandparent(transparent?) is applying makeup to her grandkid and you realize that there is just a touch of glitter on her eyelids. Perhaps she is not quite ready to shine, but she’ll allow herself a little sparkle while she supports her grandkid.
And that’s important, too, and something that I very much feel as a queer person in my thirties sometimes, that as an older person, maybe you are more tired, more set in your ways, but that doesn’t mean you can’t clear the heck out of a path, and support the heck out of queer and trans youth. Maybe the grandparent wants to take her time exploring her gender identity, but she is ready to support her grandkid who is ready, and the complexity in this representation, if this is the intent, is a really beautiful sentiment.
And, because I paused, because I think I saw the glitter, I am willing to believe that’s the real message, that this is a commercial, of all things, about inter-generational, intra-familial queer and trans connection, in 2022, in a hostile political environment for trans people, just ahead of when family will be coming together for the holidays. It’s made by a company, a commercial entity, but in a world where just anyone might see this ad on TV, I’ll take it.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who noticed the glitter. It stays with you for days
Oh gosh now I’m crying!! I love both interpretations.
Thank you for validating this! I really do think the glitter is there!
This is a great & great ad that gave me the feels.
💜💜💜
awh, thank for for sharing this. i had not seen the ad and am not used to things making me teary, but this did and i’m impressed. so sweet. would love to see more of this expression hence less repression in the world! and now i think i’ll have j&b at the mixer i am attending tonight! lol, they should support autostraddle❣️
Thank you so much for reading. Sometimes we just need something to make us tear up a little.
I definitely cried when I saw this ad!
💜💜 Thank you for reading!!
If grandparent isn’t transfem they are super in touch with their femme side. I’m leaning toward interpretation #2, but it’s beautiful and I’m tearing up either way.
I am also for sure leaning toward interpretation #2
Thank you. I needed something warm and fuzzy to bring me out of a funk. <3
💜💜💜 always happy to be a part of getting out of a funk.
The thing that bothers me the most about the commercial is their need to include the young woman’s age. It is as if once we know she is not a minor, no one will accuse the grandpa of “corrupting” a minor. To me that’s an indication that trans kids still have a long way to go before they are accepted.
I definitely did not understand the age thing? But that’s an interesting thought about why the commercial might have done that.
I honestly didnt pick up on that but it makes sense! I thought it was kind of to highlight the intergenerational support, but did they put a specific age to the grandparent?? I don’t think so, right?
there was only one named / aged person, and I do feel like it was a weird and kind of unnecessary choice…like they showed both the grandkid’s dead name and name but like…why?
Honestly, I think the only reason the young woman has a listed age is because this is a whisky ad, and associating whisky with a minor would not be responsible advertising.
Maybe it was to show that a minor wasn’t drinking whiskey.
I’m not crying, you’re crying! I also support the second interpretation, because of the way that the grandparent looks at herself in the mirror, and the longing gaze towards herself in that image, and also the pride but also sadness in the end? It’s such a layered story for a commercial!
the pride tinged with sadness at the end is truly something that has stayed with me. and for real big “i’m not crying you’re crying” energy here
I don’t ever remember seeing an advert that touched me so deeply.
I came out as queer to my children two months ago when I separated from my partner (rest of family don’t know, that’s work for next year). I’m not able to stay in the family home because of my partner, mother in law and one son’s wishes.
My other child has come out to me as trans in the last few weeks, nobody else. I can’t imagine the family in the advert ever being right now but I love its beauty and hope.
It will be no surprise that I see the grandparent wanting with all his heart to be there for his grandchild, not only because of love, but also the deep desire that it will be different for them in a way it hasn’t been possible for themself.
I also see a glint of hope in that glitter…
<3 Sarah thank you so much for sharing. I am sorry that the holidays are so hard right now, but I also am glad that you can be there as a parent and role model for your trans kid. I'm just thinking of you and sending you and your kid so much love. (And also as A+ director, I would be remiss if I didn't let you know about our A+ membership gift pool, where you can get a free membership donated by one of our members if reading bonus content and all things A+ would be helpful for you.)
Hope you and your kid are taking care. And again, sending tons and tons of love your way.
Beautifully story and like a little film. A gem! Thank you for sharing it, never saw it before. I totally thought the grandparent was trans based on so many moments of real feeling they expressed. I don’t think it would have been so deep if it was only for helping the grandchild. Also, there was secrecy, which wouldn’t have been necessary if it was purely altruistic. Sequel!
I agree about the secrecy! I am definitely leaning more and more toward interpretation 2 as time and thought goes on.
sequel!!! sequel!!! sequel!!!
awww i wouldn’t have seen this! cryingnnnnnnggggg. def love the possibility & ambiguity for the grandparent!!!! and i need to buy whiskey for recipes, so HEY IT WORKED J&B, give AS some $$$$!!!!
💖💖💖 right?? It’s like, well if you gotta buy whiskey for something, it is sure as hell gonna be from the people who made me cry and overtly support trans people.
the soundtrack also goes with the grandparent being on their own transfemme journey <3
i watched it again and i’m crying again
oooh I agree with your analysis of the soundtrack!
Welp…I wasn’t expecting to cry when I uploaded the page two minutes ago…
Thank you for bringing it to my attention.
💜💜 thank you for looking!
I don’t always feel like a unicorn around here, but then—
“I very much feel as a queer person in my thirties sometimes, that as an older person…”
—sometimes my almost-61 year old bad self wants to crawl through the screen and throttle a punk! [Bah Humbug! 🤬]
P.S. It’s a very nice commercial.
Hah, sending some elder solidarity. As in, I’ve been clearing this path for forty years, any fatigue is earned.
It looks like that ad was set in Spain; if so, those grandparents grew up under Franco.
The fact that this is being shown in Spain, where the anti-trans discourse has been given so much time and visibility the last couple of years makes it even more important, I think. Good to know that the brand has a history of support to back it up.
Yes absolutely. Very good point!
the absolute tenderness with which the grandparent applied the eyeliner really got me
I knooow! And the way the grandkid has tears in her eyes when she realizes what is going on?