Fancy a drink? Just make sure you bring your ID...
Iceland, the land of the midnight sun, is also the land of government-backed alcohol stores, acting as the only place to legally purchase booze of any sort. While this may sound a bit of an inconvenience to those of us in free-flowing, free-drinking countries, Vinbudin, the authority that runs the stores encourages Icelanders to buy booze at their shops, as their latest campaign directed by Borkor shows. The only inconvenience they want you to avoid when purchasing is forgetting your ID, backed by some entertaining (if slightly dubious) statistics.
In three very humorous spots, we see people with 'dog-ate-my-homework-type' explanations as to why they don't have any form of ID with them - in one case, quite literally. Borkur teases out some wickedly captivating excuses that leave you waiting for the punchline, delivered in that expert deadpan style we have come to expect from Borkur's work, most recently in his acclaimed spot for Cif. The reactions of the exasperated shop assistant having to deal with these air-headed customers is worth the watch alone.
Pick of the bunch is 'Washing Machine', that takes its cue from that infamous Levi's 501 laundromat spot from the 80s, though this time with an Icelandic spin (cycle). A hunky, funkily-haired young man strips off to wash his clothes, much to the delight of the watching female audience in the steamy laundromat/diner/bar. Much to our delight however is the moment when we see that his passport has accompanied his jeans into the wash. Our unfortunate man tries his luck at the checkout, but the store assistant is having none of it, nor his rather ropey excuse explaining what exactly happened to his ID is.
Catch the spot here as well as the two sister films that are guaranteed to raise a laugh and remind you to always keep an eye at all times on all your forms of ID.
Catch more of Borkur's work at the Nice Shirt website here.
