South Africa has its fair share of terrible adverts, but we also have some gems.

There is always Nando’s and #YouPeople, with Chicken Licken and Big John giving them a run for their money, and the lamest of complaints isn’t going to take down the popular ‘Zero Bucks Given’ campaign.

Yeah, you have to wade through those terrible washing powder adverts (sheets hanging on the washing line – novel concept), but that’s just advertising these days.

When it comes to Hennessy, the famous cognac brand, there’s certainly no expenses spared with their latest campaign, ‘The Seven Worlds’, directed by Ridley Scott.

Who knows how much this ‘odyssey’ set them back, but here’s AdAge:

The liquor brand is promoting its Hennessy X.O cognac in “7 Worlds,” a mix of epic drama and sci-fi odyssey. The video highlights the seven notes of X.O and pays homage to the Oscars with a scene that includes colossal golden figures similar to the Oscars award statue.

Scott, who directed films including “Alien,” “Blade Runner” and “Gladiator,” created a four-minute film for the brand that will air on Hennessey’s site during the Oscars on Feb. 24.

The ad will be launched on March 16 in South Africa.

You could wait until then, or you could just watch it now:

Anyone else feel like it’s all a little over the top?

It’s like those perfume and cologne commercials – I just want to smell nice, and I don’t need some video featuring a woman with pouty lips wrapped around a bottle that transforms into a growling jaguar to do so.

There hasn’t been an ad made like that, as far as I know, but it’s surely only a matter of time.

[source:adage]