I'm obsessed with this weird gin bottle | STFO 🤘


Let's play a little game.

First, read this:

"ENGINE is a distilled gin (42% vol.) hand-crafted by master distillers, produced in small batches and bottled by hand in the Alta Langa region, in north-western Italy."

Ok, now open your eyes.

Ah, yes, sorry I never asked you to close them.

Anyway.

Second, what do you imagine this gin bottle to look like? Where's the label? What's its color? What about the shape? The cap? Try to visualize it as best as you can.

Ok, cool.

I don't know about you, but for me, a typical gin bottle is clear glass, a bit tall, and with a label with some sort of botanical illustration.

Finally, take a look at this picture:

What do you notice?

As soon as I saw it, I thought it looked like one of those metallic oil jugs. But it's gin.

It stands the f*ck out because they picked one category convention—the bottle (or container)—and challenged it.

Their inspiration?

"An imaginary made of oil and fuel cans, motocross races and racing vehicles, in memory of the great myths of the 1970s and 1980s like the timeless Ford custom-painted Gran Torino from the TV show Starsky and Hutch." (source)

What are the chances that other gin producers, let alone spirit producers, use the same? Zero to none. That's what makes it so distinctive.

Finally, just to clarify something, I'm not saying go completely bonkers with random branding. Challenge some category conventions, but not all. You don't want to confuse people to the point where they're scratching their heads, wondering what the hell you are.

In ENGINE's case, it's still pretty clear it's gin thanks to the name (enGINe), label ("Italian Organic Gin"), and supermarket aisle where you may find it.

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