Bacardi Rum recently elected to screen their latest "Vinnie Jones" commercial through leading cinema advertising contractor CineMARK, resulting in a marked increase in sales!

The latest "Vinnie Jones" Bacardi commercial is being screened on 270 cinema screens each week across the country throughout 2005. In the commercial Vinnie entertains audiences when the bunch of flowers he's carrying gets decapitated by a flying bar-tray, Vinnie bursts in to the packed bar looking for the culprit. At the bar he is confronted by a sultry bartender who promptly slams down a bottle of Bacardi Rum on the tray and says - "Table six.....and get a tip". When Vinnie sees who's sitting at the table - three gorgeous girls - he decides to join in the fun. Continuing the tongue-in-cheek style of the ad, he plays up the role of the waiter, smashing the ice, mixing the drinks and finishes by striking the classic pose from 'Lock, Stock', with two bottles of Bacardi rum on his shoulders. The ad, which is set to a strong dance track, closes with Vinnie busting a few moves with the bartender on the dance floor.

"The latest Vinnie Jones commercial has been on the big screen since April 2004 and we look forward to an even more successful year in 2005. Bacardi has only used one creative across all the screens which aids increased brand retention and recall and is proving to be highly successful with the brand selling way above its previous years sales figures. While this can't be attributed only to cinema, as cinema is only one element of the overall media campaign it does prove the power of cinema as an integral part of the media mix," comments Elmarie Pretorius, Managing Director, CineMARK.

"Whilst it is always difficult to attribute sales success to a particular medium within a media mix, we have been very encouraged by the positive feedback we have received about the "Bartray" cinema campaign, and our Bacardi client is equally pleased with Bacardi Rum's unprecedented sales growth," comments Dave Lehr, Joint Managing Director, clm.advertising.