Scotch leans on Gen Z stars to win back buyers

Scotch brands are shifting their marketing toward Gen Z—using actors, athletes, and pop stars—to reverse category declines worsened by a 10% U.S. whisky tariff. Macallan is featuring James Marsden alongside his Gen Z son in a Father’s Day ad, as Diageo, Suntor

On a Father’s Day weekend built for traditions, Macallan is betting the next chapter of Scotch fandom looks different than it used to.

In a new advertising spot called “Drink of a Generation. ” James Marsden—who famously toasted the then-biggest milestone of his career with Macallan 12 Year Old after landing the role of Cyclops in the 2000 blockbuster film X-Men—appears again as a paid pitchman. The campaign, Macallan says, runs on Instagram and targets ages 25 to 34 as its most-reached demographic.

In the middle of the ad. Marsden’s intergenerational setup comes into focus: his Gen Z-aged son. Jack. appears after Marsden notes that his father has “a love for the finer things.” Marsden’s own memory of that earlier toast remains part of the pitch. “I wanted to commemorate that moment by having something very special,” he recalled in an interview with Fast Company. “It’s not something I do often, toasting my achievements. But I felt very proud and wanted to remember the moment.”.

What plays like a family moment also fits a broader industry push—one that treats recruiting younger drinkers as urgent work, not branding for branding’s sake.

Macallan’s marketing leadership puts it plainly. Marcelo Colombo. senior vice president of marketing for the Americas business of Macallan’s parent company Edrington. says the brand needs to stay relevant with consumers who are coming of age now. “What we need to ensure is that we are relevant and that we continue talking to a younger generation and bring them into our story. ” Colombo tells Fast Company. “We’re talking to a wider generation, not just the generation of James Marsden.”.

The industry has been acting on that belief across multiple brands. Charles Leclerc, the Formula 1 driver, serves as global brand ambassador for Chivas Regal under a multi-year partnership. Rauw Alejandro teamed up with Buchanan’s for a FIFA World Cup-inspired campaign that debuted in April. Sabrina Carpenter is crooning for Johnnie Walker. while actor Thomas Doherty and Jamaican model Miqueal-Symone Williams starred in The Glenlivet’s most recent advertising push.

Colombo welcomes the competitive intensity. “I welcome that the category and competitors are doing the same thing,” he says. “What we want to do is recruit more people into the category.”

The commercial logic is easy to see. Luke Tegner. head of consulting at alcohol data provider IWSR. tells Fast Company that celebrity and influencers have a major impact in the industry—especially for gin. tequila. and RTDs [ready to drink]. In Scotch. he’s essentially arguing that brands can’t afford to market like the consumer base is frozen in time.

Scotch’s marketing sprint comes after a real economic jolt. The Scotch industry suffered under a tariff-induced hangover after the implementation of a 10% import tax on whisky that went into effect in April 2025. Higher prices on the shelf contributed to a 9.2% volume drop in the U.S. in 2025 from the prior-year period, according to the trade organization the Scotch Whisky Association.

Relief arrived later, but not as a cure-all. In April 2026, President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that he would remove the tariffs on Scotch after a state visit from King Charles and Queen Camilla.

Still, even with tariff pressure eased, the long horizon remains tough. Tegner points to export data showing whisky exports falling from 13 million cases in 1990 to just 6.7 million in 2025. “The long-term trend for Scotch is one of post maturity and decline,” Tegner tells Fast Company. He says that’s why brands are trying hard to get new consumers. not just to win share within the Scotch category. but to reverse a longer-term drop off.

That long-term anxiety helps explain why Johnnie Walker, Diageo’s iconic Scotch brand, refreshed how it talks about progress. Last fall. Diageo revived its famous Johnnie Walker “Keep Walking” campaign. evolving the language away from linear. career-driven milestones that may have resonated with older millennials. The newer version leans into Gen Z-friendly themes of embracing vulnerability and even failure.

Jesse Damashek, SVP of marketing for Diageo’s North America whiskey portfolio, describes the change with the same underlying goal: “We saw the opportunity, with the Gen Z consumer in mind, to really refresh a 25-year, long-running line.”

Johnnie Walker says its U.S. Scotch market share grew from 24% to 26% from when the campaign debuted in November through April 2026, citing data from NielsenIQ and the National Alcohol Beverage Control Association.

The campaign refresh isn’t standing alone. Damashek points to new innovation. including the new Johnnie Walker Black Cask blended Scotch that debuted in February. featuring vanilla. caramel. and spice designed to be more aligned with the American palette. The brand is also pushing newer ways to drink Scotch, including the Go Go Highball, concocted in collaboration with Carpenter. The drink mixes whisky with ginger ale, sour cherry juice, and is garnished with black cherries.

“We’re looking to just build more versatility into the broader Johnnie Walker portfolio,” Damashek says. He adds that working with Carpenter offers a “reframe” of how Scotch can show up in different occasions and cocktails, bringing “a much more diverse consumer in terms of her broad-based appeal.”

Other brands are leaning on family messaging, too—without assuming fathers are the only gateway. In June, Laphroaig ran a paid influencer campaign on Instagram featuring real fathers and sons.

Suntory Global Spirits, owner of Laphroaig, described the point through Steve Belfiglio, senior director for prestige brands. He tells Fast Company that the company has “heard countless stories from whisky drinkers that they were introduced to Laphroaig by their father or grandfather.” The message of the campaign is meant to reach younger. legal drinking age consumers with a correction: Scotch “isn’t just for dad. but it’s for you too.”.

Back in the Marsden household, the pitch lands on taste as much as identity. Marsden shares that when he was younger and looking for a buzz. “you’re drinking crappy wine or beer.” His taste. he says. has become more refined. Today. he prefers to drink Macallan either neat—meaning completely alone in a glass at room temperature—or with a small ice cube.

And when he offers advice to Jack and other Gen Z peers, the message is tight. “When you have a glass of this kind of whisky, it’s something to savor.”

The pieces fit together in a way that feels less like casual marketing and more like survival strategy: a category dealing with price shocks from a 10% import tax. battling a long-term decline in exports from 13 million cases in 1990 to 6.7 million in 2025. and trying to pull new drinkers into Scotch through the people they already pay attention to.

Scotch whisky Macallan Edrington James Marsden Jack Marsden Father’s Day Gen Z marketing Instagram advertising Johnnie Walker Diageo Marcelo Colombo Luke Tegner IWSR 10% whisky import tax Donald Trump Charles and Camilla Laphroaig Suntory celebrity endorsements