Bain’s pays tribute to Miriam Makeba in a new #WhiskyRemastered campaign, showing that the greatest way to honour tradition is to build on it.

Bain’s Whisky is launching a new TV ad that brings iconic South African musician, Miriam Makeba, back to life on screen. The ad, which also features the musical talents of Msaki and Sun-EL Musician, pays homage to the enormous influence that Miriam Makeba had, and continues to have, on South African music.

It draws a parallel between iconic South African music, and whisky making, demonstrating that the greatest honour you can pay the icons of the past is to build on their legacy, pushing your craft to the next level by making it your own.

 The ad was inspired by Bain’s Founder Distiller, Andy Watts, who mastered traditional whisky making in Europe before realising that he needed to embrace his curiosity and reimagine time-honoured techniques to create something entirely new - Bain’s Whisky.

“The campaign aims to celebrate and acknowledge South African creatives, past and present, who never settle for perfection but continue to innovate and advance their craft, inspiring future artists for generations to come.” says Lynsay Sampson – Marketing Manager: Whisky & White Spirits “This is the essence of #WhiskyRemastered.”

“Miriam Makeba was a woman of great substance.” continues Sampson.

 “We worked closely with the Miriam Makeba Foundation to ensure we honoured her legacy in a way that captured her charisma, her unbounded talent, and her love for her craft. We’re honoured for her to be a part of our story”. The TV ad was six months in the making and overcame some impressive creative challenges.

To bring Makeba back to the silver screen a VFX team was assigned the task of mapping her face onto a body double and then “remastering” it into the new artist’s face.

Speaking about this revolutionary technique, Director Zwelethu Radebe from Egg Films noted: “To get the legend of Miriam Makeba to perform once more, we analysed a wide selection of archival footage. Once we narrowed down the selects, we filmed a body double performing the song, matching the angles, and lighting of the stock footage. We then replaced our double’s head with the archival footage of Miriam, matching the look and feel of the old footage to create an authenticate remastering of the classic song.”

 “Creating the music for the campaign was another daunting yet exciting task,” said Sampson. We were thrilled to collaborate with Msaki and Sun-EL Musician for the credibility and authenticity they brought to remastering “Pata Pata”.

 “It's a pretty heavy thing to think about how you take a song that was so iconic in the past and the present, and to reimagine in your own natural way.” said Msaki. “I don't want to lie, it's intimidating. But it's also a huge honour.”

 “I want everyone to be happy.” added Sun-EL Musician. “Somehow you just learn to let go and trust the process and believe in the people that you work with.”

 The new remastered track at the heart of the TV ad is titled ‘Pata Pata - Saguquka’, which translated literally means “we change”, illustrating the brand’s deep belief in remastery.

 “Pata Pata – Saguquka” is inspired by the much-loved anthem “Pata Pata”, which was first released by Miriam Makeba in 1967. The full track will be made available on all streaming platforms with all proceeds being donated to the Miriam Makeba Foundation.

 This campaign is an intersection between art, technology, music, and whisky, said Sampson. It’s a labour of love that shows South Africa who we are and what we stand for.”

 The TVC will air on DSTV, SABC and eTV from the 15th of August 2022 as part of the whisky brand’s #WhiskyRemastered campaign.

It is apt that it launches in Women’s Month to commemorate one of the most treasured voices in South African music.