Tim Goodsall
Southern Comfort - Whatever’s Comfortable
- DirectorTim Goodsall
- AgencyWieden+Kennedy New York
KRISTIAN EILERTSEN & RUNE PETERSEN This is not a brand trying too hard to be cool. It just is. We talk a lot about confident executions. Trusting that your idea can carry the ad instead of overworking it. This is the epitome of that. The casting, the music, the shoulder dip… This absolutely drips with confidence.
The story behind Southern Comfort´s Whatever’s Comfortable campaign
When Southern Comfort launched its Whatever’s Comfortable campaign, it quietly stepped away from everything whiskey advertising usually leans on. Instead of polished glamour or manufactured cool, the brand focused on something far simpler: people who were genuinely at ease with themselves.
Directed by Tim Goodsall in collaboration with Wieden+Kennedy New York, the campaign embraced authenticity as a creative rule rather than a marketing buzzword. One of its most memorable spots - often referred to as the “Karate” commercial - emerged almost by accident. An actor cast for a different role turned out to be a real-life martial artist, and rather than smoothing that detail away, the creative team rewrote the film around it. The camera simply observed him doing what he loved, without explanation or apology.
That unforced approach became the campaign’s signature. The films didn’t sell a lifestyle so much as they documented confidence in its most relaxed form. By letting real quirks lead the storytelling, Whatever’s Comfortable reframed the brand’s identity around ease, individuality, and self-possession.
In a category obsessed with image, Southern Comfort stood out by loosening control - trusting that comfort, not cool, would resonate most.