Guinness Surfer Ad (with Horses) 1998

The 'Surfer' is one of the best and well known adverts of recent years.
Part of the 'Good Things Come to Those who Wait' campaign, the ad uses the metaphor of Hawaiian surfers waiting for the ultimate wave to reflect anticipation for the perfect pint of Guinness.

[@Fontsman]

Even after twenty years, quite simply the most brilliantly realised ad there has ever been.

[@jackglossop4859]

The fact that it hasn’t dated in any way whatsoever is testament to it. I agree, best television advert of all time.

[@johnvanfloydlawson9955]

Yeah so cool

[@Phaedra389]

Isn't it just- so beautiful

[@themScreamS]

As soon as you see the the start you think Guinness

[@jameswest4692]

I barely remember the ad, in fact i only remember parts of it despite being around at the time. Seeing it again its shit, very unmemorable. Maybe i dont like Guinness.

[@HawaiiBased]

The man whos face was in the beginning & made it out at the end is my grandfather Chadwick (Dino) Ching r.i.p love you papa !!!!

[@MrJapaca]

Oh wow...

[@MrJapaca]

So cool!

[@MrJapaca]

Reminds me a bit of Heston?

[@nickthomas181]

Legend

[@andyluck5319]

Isn't it Rusty Keaulana, Rusty K? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rusty_Keaulana

[@spencernibbs]

There’s not much left to add. Artistic genius. Best ad EVER. You might not like Guinness but that’s beside the point. More ads today need to aspire to this masterpiece. Get in leftfield

[@conorsmith8551]

That’s beside the pint

[@darrengrayshon9910]

And the phat drummer hit the beat with all his heart.......

[@littlemisslondon5655]

One of the most iconic adverts in history! Love the story, music, artistic approach & video graphics 👌 👍 classic Genesis advert epic.

[@m1ck3y78]

Best add ever made, still gives me goose bumps, love it!

[@themScreamS]

Same here , Hello from 2021

[@lmlmd2714]

I remember this ad when I was in high school - never forgotten it. Absolutely brilliant. Obviously didn't work as an advert as I'm teetotal, but beautiful artistry.

[@ferghalicious1480]

I could never figure out how your man stayed up on the surfboard after 14 pints of stout.

[@andrewcarson5850]

Low centre of gravity.

[@jasonderebel7864]

Iconic advertising even by 90s standards, when there were so many great ads.

[@thebigquestion]

They don't make adverts like that anymore... Even after so many years... I get goosebumps. What a great memory to stumble accross. Thank you Goo Gal Algae Rhythm.

[@arcee577]

Just came here from Trash Taste

[@NOGRAD]

same

[@blackArt2000]

I remember seeing this in the cinema for the first time! Totally Amazing!

[@renesanjuan2002]

For me it is the best television commercial of all time. The way in which the idea connects with the essence of the brand, achieve that particularity of waiting until the foam is formed on top of the glass and in the idea this becomes a philosophy of life represented in a simple, basic man who only wait for the best wave. Pure inspiration for the consumer and for the TV viewer. The consumer discovers that when waiting for that foam in the bar, there are many more background things in his life. Now ... the production is a fine work of art, the black and white, the actors, the photography, the music, the silences ... I never tire of seeing it

[@221b-Maker-Street]

If you read the story of how it was made, at one point, they were absolutely shitting themselves, because they couldn't get it to work... www.creativemoment.co/creative-classic-guinness-surfer-ad-was-a-genius-idea-painstakingly-executed

[@conorsmith8551]

Otto voice “do you like…. Work in advertising dude?”

[@dannjp75]

Also breaking waves like that are known as ‘white horses’ in the marine world.

[@thescreamsmusic]

You see the face. You wait. You wait for the voice. You hear the music. Tick follows tock follows tick. You see the horse,waves and surfers. You think Guinness. The greatest TV advert ever.

[@admiralcraddock464]

What makes this advert even better is they didn't use a group of ripped male models, just a bunch of ordinary looking blokes

[@thepickledpixie9052]

Aye, I always remember the crows feet/tan lines from being on the beach squinting at the sun. Authenticity.

[@glennsanders2962]

Whoever came up with this idea for the guinness campaign knew what they were doing. It is stunning and very well filmed and put together.

[@comicbookdude]

I remember when they used to publish when they were gonna show this ad, so people could watch it

[@samcartwright1640]

An art directing masterclass

[@iskanderx4523]

+Sam Cartwright directing too

[@thefurrybastard1964]

It's a classic.

[@ianshattock636]

The Batman they made a programme about the making of the add

[@mumfy3131]

It's 2016 and still I cannot pick up a Gunnuiss and NOT hear this song and see this surfing advert

[@blood_upon_the_rose]

I'm just having one now that's why I'm searching for this advert lol

[@markbaker23]

fact

[@mrmooshoo8380]

With all the osprey from this "storm" ciara and picking up a guinness in 2020 and this advert is still all I hear and think of.

[@ericnelson5825]

W-H-Y ?

[@mm8164]

One of the best adverts in history, just a brilliantly realised vision. The director of this was Jonathan Glazer, who just got nominated for Best Director at the Oscars, congrats to him.

[@MrForeverblue75]

White horses are a common metaphor for describing the foam on white topped waves, whitecaps surf etc, used to describe rough seas, i.e. lots of white horses. This ad Looked pretty awesome. Especially the angry, wild white horses... i.e. angry wild scary surf.

[@CesareVesdani]

Guinness adverts in the 1990s were the best.

[@MrRRHHMM]

SUPERB.... and compare this to the tragic quality of current UK ads..

[@ShabaabulAwliya]

One of the BEST ads EVER - FACT!

[@Duffers-11]

this advert gives me goosebumps!

[@happyclappyslappy]

best advert ever. top that

[@Oscar301]

probably the greatest ever advert

[@owenblack4637]

you were not wrong.

[@craigackroyd]

Oscar301 I agree it’s a great advert. But compare it to Honda Accord advert or iPad Air original advert. All great in their own rights. But which is better?

[@16cliffedge]

@@craigackroyd this one

[@221b-Maker-Street]

@@craigackroyd This is. It's _Art!_

[@Arfa_Tunn]

@@craigackroyd This one by an absolute mile. It's perfection

[@ashutoshgoswami2619]

Piece of art. One of the greatest ads ever made.

[@anthonydavies5248]

Saw an image of this painted over the back of a lorry cab the other day, looked marvellous! Driver said few people recognise it! Shame, memorable advert

[@stephenpowell5912]

Great Ad During 1999,Leftfield bought me here watching this. ❤️

[@librapainter7174]

Always gives me goosebumps

[@MrPeterClements]

such a bad ass advert

[@daveaherne26]

The cinematography is absolute genius, this short film absolutely gives me the chills.. does it make me want to drink Guinness (and I'm a Guinness drinker[and irish]) though?.. not really... but I still can't stop watching it

[@rich6076]

Like many have already said, without question the greatest ad EVER!!! Thanks to leftfield as well

[@deanhannah2138]

One of my favourite ads of all time and, despite it being 20 years since it aired, I still remembered most of the words. (How sad am I?🤣) I love the horses in the waves which was stolen for use in The Lord of the Rings (Arwen summons a flood to save Aragorn). Genius short film.

[@chrisplunkett2814]

It was also sort of plagiarised from the painting Neptunes Horses by Walter Crane.Sort as in they did acknowledge where the inspiration for it came from.

[@jw9301]

"'Elrond commanded it,' answered Gandalf. 'The river of this valley is under his power, and it will rise in anger when he has great need to bar the Ford. As soon as the captain of the Ringwraiths rode into the water the flood was released. If I may say so, I added a few touches of my own: you may not have noticed, but some of the waves took the form of great white horses with shining white riders; and there were many rolling and grinding boulders. For a moment I was afraid that we had let loose too fierce a wrath, and the flood would get out of hand and wash you all away. There is great vigour in the waters that come down from the snows of the Misty Mountains.':" The Fellowship of the Ring, LoTR Book 2, Ch 1, Many Meetings

[@deanhannah2138]

@@jw9301 I read the LoTR but didn't remember that. I guess I got something wrong... again! 🤡

[@michaelanimasaun]

it seems like time stops when you watch it

[@razzolap2500]

Can’t believe it’s been 20 years since this ad was on tv, feels like yesterday

[@ScuffyP]

LOVED this advert when I was a kid. Absolutely loved it.

[@JC.V]

Sur la route vers Dublin pour un surf trip... je découvre ce chef d œuvre de 1'40. ca me donne presque envie de revoir ces vieilles séries british comme le prisonnier. Grosse classe.🍺🍺🍺

[@thomasyoung3268]

Whoever wrote that script was a genius wordsmith. I'm a copywriter and there's things in there I just wouldn't think of writing. Guess thats why Ive never written an award winning ad... yet. :)

[@sfedroid]

Thomas Young Agreed! The visuals are also done beautifully and somewhere, years ago, I read the back story and the dudes in it are real Hawaiian surfers, not chiselled actors or agency extras. This ad is what hipsters want to be but fail at. It has real authenticity and grit and does its job (as an ad) perfectly. Makes you want to be like those guys.

[@crayzmarc]

+Steve Ford Yeah I heard that too. Though I don't think they're Hawaiian, but maybe Italian or something.

[@BradBrassman]

+Thomas Young Herman Melville wrote it. Most of it is from Moby Dick.

[@thomasyoung3268]

+Brad Brassman Bastard! He plagiarised it. Great idea to do so I guess. :/

[@thomasyoung3268]

Spitsworth That's not what I wrote. Read it again. Properly.

[@liamsutcliffe473]

One of the best adverts ever 👍

[@neilcraig7254]

"Ahab said I don't care who you are, here's to your dream"

[@jabu285]

Love the closeups of eyes of the horses in the raging surf!

[@Owenwyld69]

its the worst advert ever

[@annegreenwood906]

Absolutely stunning ❤

[@Deathmatchking91]

Absolutely Incredible Advert. I Fancy a Pint Now

[@millihannz]

This is the best advert ever made! Legendary!

[@janekreynolds580]

For anybody who is interested... Framestore have a higher quality copy. www.framestore.com/work/guinness-surfer

[@RolazProductions]

Thank you. :)

[@alvareo92]

It's the shorter version :(

@@alvareo92 The extended version in HD: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mqKlkIKjZ6aeetE

[@markbaker23]

best TV ad ever

[@janekreynolds580]

Last night I e-mailed Guinness asking them if there is an HD version of this anywhere. You know what they sent me? A link to this video on this page... I think maybe Guiness are employing idiots.

[@peronakov7663]

Janek Reynolds www.framestore.com/work/guinness-surfer

[@ZR3FR1K]

I'm surprised they even responded, to be honest.

[@KoachKehe]

You can find it in good quality on the DVD "The Work Of Director Jonothan Glazer" who is the director of the Clip. It's part of a very cool series of DVD's by the way. There are also DVDs of Mark Romanek, Michel Gondry and Spike Jonze: Directors Label by Palm Pictures.

[@MeeHandle]

It wasn't filmed in HD.... that makes you the idiot doesn't it?

[@16cliffedge]

its too old fr HD idiot

[@craigackroyd]

It would have been very ingenious to have made this advert last exactly 119.5 seconds

[@mjay5783]

Keith Bridges I agree does exactly the same to me use to love this ad so much!

[@Zebix]

Brewdog Jet Black Heart ad brought me here

[@degsbabe]

Gosh this great clip deserves much higher quality.Somebody give this the justice it deserves?

Here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mqKlkIKjZ6aeetE

[@bellatinker5852]

thank you! @

[@honeycat535]

why dont they upgrade this ad, it was the best ad ever!! watching it with pixels is a wank .

[@m3erw]

+honeycat535 That is the most stupid comment I have ever read.

Here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mqKlkIKjZ6aeetE

[@jadedjonny1040]

Best advert ever made. Never forgot this one.

[@mykreevesofficial]

Still an iconic advert, even all these years later.

[@rosetinteddays2605]

I don't even drink...yet this advert gives me goosebumps!

[@louisdavies8050]

Jonathan Glazer directed this....makes sense now as he is a brilliant director.

[@ShizukuSeiji]

Under the Skin brought me here.

[@marieadams3720]

Simply the greatest advert of all time.

[@rachidizere]

Remember this advert since i was 8 years old that how good it and the song is. Nowadays u get rubbish adverts.

[@matthewkerry2208]

rachidizere rachidkhamlichi who did the song?

[@rushocxskb8478]

This is not an ad its an epic movie!!!! Leftfield all the way thank you mr Glazer

[@dommoss4264]

Epic ad, absolutely love it.

[@andrewwilliams8187]

You wait for you Guinness to settle

[@diamondroad4762]

Muazzam 🥂👏🏽 deeply art

[@mohammednurul9380]

Top gear bought me here

[@MikeMeehan]

Directed by Academy Award nominee Jonathan Glazer

[@27pacitti]

One of the best adverts ever made.

[@abbasshussainh786]

I dont drink but growing up in the 90s i can still remember this advert and always come back to watch it..they just dont make commercials like this anymore!

[@jesusfreak1975]

this is class - how to create tension from complete silence for over 10 seconds!

[@jackglossop4859]

The best television advert of all time? Surely....

[@rmoalxa]

This. Is. Art.

[@RafaelLSmith]

shame it doesnt change the fact guinness tastes like blood and iron mixed with old cream

[@cjcottell]

The Hound you say that like it's a bad thing!

[@JWD1012]

The Hound As someone who loves Guinness, that's a phenomenal and accurate description.

[@sfedroid]

The Hound I've never really tasted blood or iron in Guinness. It's just very dark roasted bitter and rich malt with some other undertones of flavour. Cream, yes, specially proper draught Guinness hand drawn in Ireland. It doesn't travel so well.

[@RafaelLSmith]

when you get down to the bottom of the glass it tastes like iron filings, or maybe like licking a battery. doesn't travel through the human body so well either

[@TK-dx6qc]

Jason Voorheese lol

[@gpoop23]

I get the waiting metaphor, but what do the horses represent?

[@kerriehret7021]

The white horses are the surf and the white head of a pint of Guinness. Same reason Rutger Hauer was chosen for an ad.

[@lambokiller99]

came here from top gear motorhomes episode

[@sannimcable]

He waits good things come to those a waits

[@georgemay909]

Noun 1. white horse - a wave that is blown by the wind so its crest is broken and appears white

[@BlackAce-zr2ms]

Guinness... still my favourite beverage.. I loved this advert when I was a kid back in the 1990's.

[@garethmoss4975]

untouchable

[@kpl455]

I often have seen this commercial being rated the no.1 commercial of all time. Can someone please explain to me why? This is a serious question, I am German, and maybe I am missing the cultural context here but I just dont get it why this ad is so famous. I mean, ok, the animations are nice and all that but why horses? and what has surfing to do with Guiness anyway and what is the message of this ad? Why do people praise it so much?

[@andrewbenge1231]

Guess the horses are just artistic. But the surfer waits for the perfect wave, just as a person waits for the perfect drink……a pint of Guinness. A Guinness needs to sit for about 5 minutes before drinking after being poured, at the end of a hard weeks work, that can seem like forever, but it’s worth the wait.

[@kpl455]

@@andrewbenge1231 Got it, thank you. But thats it really?? Sorry I cant believe people go crazy just because of this. Still Guiness is maybe the drink most unattached to surfing I can imagine. Still struggle to see the greatness of this ad.

[@andrewbenge1231]

@@kpl455 I guess it just struck a cord with the British and Irish public. Ticks all the arthouse boxes for critics. Leftfield, who did the music was pretty famous back then too. Plus everyone remembers it here, I was just 10 at the time and I remember it, got my attention every time. Good advertising, iconic. Maybe it’s a British/Irish thing, I know the rest of Europe don’t worship Guinness like we do.

[@kpl455]

@@andrewbenge1231 Thank you

[@thepickledpixie9052]

It's a perfect blend. The symbolism. Waiting for the slow pour of a perfect pint or the wave to ride. The build, the anticipation. The dark sea topped with white foam representing the pint. The groundbreaking (at the time) CGI. Mariners referred to the white foam of big waves as the white horses so a surfer would "ride the white horses". The lighting. Using genuine surfers instead of male models. The stoic delivery of the voiceover and use of a Scottish accent in mainstream, reading such poetic words. The beat building throughout. It's beautifully done. I miss good advertising.

[@lee4171]

This and Southern Comfort beach ad, fucking rule. Simple as.

[@ivanapreiss]

this is advertising. a classic.

[@Corey_46]

The greatest advert ever still in 2020

[@magicmariotv7772]

Is anyone gonna acknowledge that this song was used in Beast Machines:Transformers

[@lippomclippo]

Can't call someone fat in an advert any more! Bring back the 90's

[@JakeGreen86]

Big up to the voice over artist he would have recorded this with No music... Stunning

[@thepickledpixie9052]

I remember how iconic it was to hear a Scottish accent used in the mainstream.

[@AlamoJane]

@flowerbower Does it have to be original to be inspiring? The visual of white horses driving the wave front is powerful in Walter Crane's painting and, to me, it's powerful here. Looking at all the comments on this video, I don't think I'm alone in getting chills down my spine when I watch this.

[@jeanymish]

I’m fired up. Makes me want to conquer some shit lol

[@stevenwilliams9181]

Probably one of the finest ever ads, this and Anticipation

[@JahBeatSoundSystem]

I don't go searching adverts often, but this is one I do go back to.

[@illumin8mallorca16]

Never fails to amaze

[@SpecialJay]

For me it's this and the Sting/Police Cadburys ad

[@reabo]

So iconic!

[@KM-pq7sr]

10/10

[@danieltx7066]

a great song off a great album from from Leftfield

Extended version in HD here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mqKlkIKjZ6aeetE

[@TallgeeseThree]

I FEEL TRANSFORMED!

[@KarldorisLambley]

the most important piece of art of the last 30 years.

[@keeneyboy1]

was this advert actually from 1998?

[@SaSa-fs8sb]

Horses let loose by builder noise , london 2024