The Glenlivet put founder George Smith on a 20-metre treadmill for its sequel film

The Glenlivet wanted to open up the established single-malt Scotch category, extending its 'Original By Tradition' platform: since 1824 the brand has broken traditions to set new standards in whisky.

Founder George Smith marches through whisky's tired traditions on a giant moving treadmill — dour aristocrats, mirrors of impostors — never stepping backwards.

Director Tom Noakes (PRETTYBIRD) built sets atop a working 14x5-metre treadmill and shot in camera: a sea of crusty aristocrats, a wall of mirrors for the impostors who once claimed The Glenlivet name, stilt men, fog, glass cubes and a 15-foot concrete wall — filmed in Slovenia with over 100 cast under strict Covid guidelines.

The film rolled out globally across TV and digital as the second instalment of the platform, with the in-camera treadmill production becoming the story of the launch; the source names no sales results.

In December 2020 The Glenlivet launched the next instalment of its 'Original By Tradition' campaign through Crispin Porter Bogusky London: a fast-paced journey through time in which the strict norms and rigid traditions of 'whisky fundamentalists' are rejected for modern, inclusive ideals — extending the mindset that has seen the brand break traditions since 1824.

The film follows founder George Smith marching through life's trials atop a giant 20-meter-long, 5-meter-high treadmill that literally serves up challenges: a sea of dour aristocrats representing the era when 'traditional' whisky was harsh and smoky, then a wall of mirrors signifying the poor imitations that once laid claim to The Glenlivet name, before he emerges into a contemporary, vibrant bar scene — never moving backwards.

The production became its own story. Director Tom Noakes of PRETTYBIRD: 'Smarter directors than me would have realised the insurmountable task of building sets atop a working 14 x 5-metre treadmill and leaned on vfx. But. I'm not that smart. So we did it in camera.' ECD Dave Day called it raising the bar 'literally' — 'on a moving treadmill, along with a life size bothy, and men on stilts, surrounded in fog'. It was shot in Slovenia that summer under strict Covid guidelines with a cast of over 100; brand director Miriam Eceolaza framed the whisky itself as 'the real hero of this film'.

The first film launched the founder through walls; the sequel needed a bigger physical conceit, so the walls launched at him.

The treadmill literalizes the platform's thesis: originality means never moving backwards while the world throws tradition at you.

Shooting in camera on a moving treadmill gave trade press a production story, amplifying a whisky launch without new-product news alone.

Casting the historical founder as an everyman keeps a 1824 heritage brand talking to modern, inclusive drinking occasions.

Physical spectacle that could have been VFX becomes the story itself — doing it for real gave the trade press something to write about beyond the product.

The film ran globally across TV and digital from December 2020 as the second 'Original By Tradition' instalment; the source does not report on its performance.