The famous English film director and producer Sir Ridley Scott, is reportedly returning to advertising to direct his first commercial in over 15 years for the cognac brand, Hennessy. Scott collaborates with Hennessy for a series of commercials for the Hennessy X.O cognac, which will premier globally in 2019.For the ad film, Scott creates an epic visual journey that explores seven taste-scapes in a surreal, sensory narrative. The campaign film is produced through Scott’s production company RSA Films, which this year celebrates its 50th anniversary.
Ridley Scott has directed such iconic films as the science-fiction horror film Alien, science fiction film Blade Runner, historical drama Gladiator (which won the Academy Award for Best Picture), and science fiction film The Martian. His film epic Gladiator won the Oscar, Golden Globe®, and BAFTA Awards for Best Picture, as well as the Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role for Russell Crowe. Throughout his illustrious career, Scott also been lauded by the 
Emmy Awards, Cannes Film Festival and the PGA Awards. In 1968, Scott formed RSA as a commercial production house for some of the world’s most recognized corporate brands. In 1995, Scott formed Scott Free Productions to serve as a production company for his film and television projects such as Hannibal, Man on Fire, American Gangster and Concussion, the critically acclaimed CBS drama, The Good Wife, and the hit telefilms Killing Lincoln, Killing Kennedy, and Killing Jesus. The most recent feature-films produced by Scott Free include Blade
Runner 2049, starring Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford, and Murder on the Orient Express, starring Kenneth Branagh, Johnny Depp and Michelle Pfeiffer. As a director, Scott’s most recent projects include Alien: Covenant, the sequel to Prometheus, starring Michael Fassbender and Katherine Waterston, and All the Money in the World, about the kidnapping of John Paul Getty III, starring Christopher Plummer, Michelle Williams and Mark Wahlberg, which debuted in December 2017.Scott’s fascination with advertising goes back to his education at London’s Royal College of Art. Throughout his career, he continuously revolutionized the advertising landscape.
Thomas Moradpour, Global CMO for Hennessy said, “Luxury appeal is about emotion, it’s about building a dream. Who is better than a world-creator like Ridley Scott for Hennessy X.O, the iconic flagship of our range, the Original X.O? His mastery and imagination are unsurpassed; he will capture our audience’s hearts and minds”.
The ‘Worlds of Greatness’ are creative interpretations of each tasting note, described by Hennessy’s Comité de Dégustation as illustrations of Hennessy X.O’s taste and feel: Sweet Notes, Rising Heat, Spicy Edge, Flowing Flame, Chocolate Lull, Wood Crunches. Culminating in Infinite Echo.All seven notes evocatively take shape under Scott’s direction, with his subversive sense of narrative and visual, unique light and his knack for radical, technical innovation.
A series of seven 3D ads, created in collaboration with Berlin-based visual trend lab Foam Studio, will act as a precursor to the full film and will debut globally in Fall 2018. The visionary studio Foam creates seven emblematic tunnels, ultimately leading to Ridley Scott’s complete Odyssey, revealed in 2019. The sensorial visual work embodies each one of the seven distinct flavour notes of Hennessy X.O in a tactile, hyper-graphic and poetic visual, that hovers between reality and the mythical. Both the film, and the 3D ads were created by advertising Agency DDB° Paris.
The seven ‘Worlds of Greatness’ of Hennessy X.O
Sweet Notes: The palate is warmly embraced by flavors of candied fruit – the faint sweetness of oranges fused with the subtle tartness of apricots.
Rising Heat: The intriguing sensation of an intense, rising heat slowly reveals the complex taste of eaux-de-vie that have patiently aged in oak barrels.
Spicy Edge: A strong spicy note tantalizes the palate with a distinct peppery flavour.
Flowing Flame: A wave of warmth grows, crests and then breaks; the mouth is awash with the sensation of an immense roundness. A robust presence, full and voluptuous, is felt.
Chocolate Lull: There is the gradual discovery of something familiar. It is the well-rounded flavour of a rich, dark chocolate. Slightly sweet and silky smooth, it gently caresses the palate.
Wood Crunches: A striking sensation is suddenly felt – the vigorous ebb and flow of oak notes interlaced with vanilla. With their bold and complex taste, they make their powerful presence felt and then vanish.
Infinite Echo: The evanescent oak notes leave a long, omnipresent finish in their wake, echoing the subtleties of each flavour and sensation that has preceded it, as well as the complexity of X.O’s blending and long aging process.
