The week in pictures

In millennial marketing 101, canned wine brand Babe has partnered with dating up Bumble to cover the moving costs of women who are stuck living with an ex during lockdown.

Those keen to take advantage of the offer need to tag themselves on the “moving on” post on Babe’s @drinkbabe Instagram account and show how they are “turning their breakup into a glow up”. The five winners will be announced on 6 August when the promotion ends.

As part of the publicity stunt, Babe and Bumble created a mock moving company called B&B Movers in Babe’s brand colours, with the logo “Babe and Bumble are here to help you move on. Literally”.

In addition to moving your belongings, B&B Movers can also help with removing all traces from an ex from a smartphone and tailoring a Bumble profile to get you back on the dating scene.

In back to business, PR agency R&R held a socially distanced white wine tasting in a Fulham Road car park. to celebrate White Wine Day.

The sun shone and the press guests, including the legendary Oz Clarke, attended a few at a time, separated by chevrons to safely taste and often spit on the car park gravel (well, you’ll have to do it somewhere).

Wines shown came from the likes of Hatch Mansfield, Journey’s End, Top Selection and Gonzalez Byass, as well as some with bottles from New York, France and England all in attendance.

Islay Scotch whisky label Bowmore and Aston Martin have created a £50,000 whisky together, called Black Bowmore DB5 1964.

Bowmore and Aston Martin first announced they would create a series of exclusive bottlings and experiences last year. Black Bowmore DB5 1964 is the first release in the collaboration.

The 31-year-old whisky, which has been aged in a walnut brown oloroso Sherry butt, is said to be a celebration of “a definitive moment in history” for both Bowmore and Aston Martin. 1964 was the year Aston Martin’s DB5 model made its on-screen debut as James Bond’s whip in Goldfinger. It was also the year a new boiler was installed at Bowmore, which saw the distillery enter the “modern age of distilling” as coal fires were replaced with steam as a means of heating the stills

The bottle is made from a genuine Aston Martin DB5 piston.

Pernod Ricard-owned Irish whiskey brand Jameson has teamed up with American rapper Bas to mentor two emerging musicians as part of a new marketing campaign.

Called Jameson Connects: The Stay Inn, the campaign will see Bas collaborate with the brand again to help develop the careers of two new artists from Ireland and the US.

The #JamesonConnectsBas project was launched in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This spring, Bas had planned to run a series of youth music workshops in Sudan, but these were put on hold due to the coronavirus crisis and subsequent travel restrictions.

Instead, he began working with Jameson to put together a digital mentorship programme, selecting the artists to put together a new track with them.

He has worked with Say 3, a US-based music producer, and Sierra Leonean-Irish art-soul artist, Loah.

A train station in the Japanese city of Shiojiri is releasing a wine made from grapes grown on its platforms.

Shiojiri, which is located in Japan’s central Nagano prefecture, has a long affinity with grape-growing. The prefecture is home to the wine regions of Chikumagawa, Kikyogahara, Nihon Alps and Tenryugawa and is perhaps best known for its Merlot.

The train station planted a ‘vineyard’ on platforms three and four in the 1988 as a way to promote local wine to tourists visiting the area.

In “why tho”, a spirit that uses the droppings from silkworms as one of its key ingredients has been launched in Japan.

The spirit was co-developed by Antcicada, an experimental kitchen exploring edible insects, with The Mitosaya Botanical Distillery.

The droppings also contain undigested mulberry leaves, which the silkworms feed on which apparently contributes a refined aroma reminiscent of the plant. it is said to have aromas of gyokuro green tea, prune and seaweed, blended with the mulberry and a subtle sourness.

In more “why tho” news, Colorado-based Oskar Blues Brewing has partnered with the company that makes Schwartz seasonings to create a mustard-flavoured beer.

The new drink, which was created by Oskar Blues Brewery, is a limited-release, 5.2% ABV tropical wheat beer brewed with French’s Classic Yellow Mustard, and infused with key lime, lemon, tangerine, and passion fruit.

McCormick & Company, which also owns American mustard brand French’s, worked with Oskar Blues to create the new product ahead of National Mustard Day. It is available to order in the US through craft beer e-commerce site CraftShack, and at Oskar Blues’ taprooms in Boulder and Longmont, Colorado, and Brevand, North Carolina, with an RRP of US$19.99 per pack of six.

The two companies have also created a French’s Mustard Beer homebrew recipe for those who, for whatever reason, want to recreate the magic at home.

In awards season, New Zealand wine brand Villa Maria held a special BAFTA evening for the winner of a social media competition in her own back garden.

The star-studded Virgin Media British Academy Television Awards was slightly little different this year, with actors ‘attending’ the glamorous ceremony from the safety of their own homes.

BAFTA’s wine partner Villa Maria held a competition to give one lucky wine lover the red carpet experience in their backyard.

Louise Wong and her family were treated to a garden screening of the Virgin Media BAFTAs, a glamorous al fresco makeover, and a year’s supply of Villa Maria wine.

On Tuesday (4 August), Bacardi launched a series of advocacy initiatives to support on-trade venues emerging out of lockdown.

Shervene Blackburn, Bacardi’s head of brand advocacy is at the helm.