Pernod suffered from a perception problem. Those of us who knew of it as a French aperitif didn’t drink it over here, while clubbers and pubbers who drunk it in quantity regarded it as rocket fuel, really thanks to its strong taste. This latter ensured that when mixed with things like blackcurrant cordial, cider, even Guinness, you could still taste the Pernod. The other aspect that drinkers liked was the change of state when Pernod was mixed, going from clear yellow to cloudy. Something was clearly being liberated. This gave rise to the famous, or notorious depending on your point of view, line – Free The Spirit. While this was intended to describe the releasing of the drink’s effect by mixing with water, drinkers took it to mean that Pernod was the ideal starter in you wanted to let yourself go. In a reversal of the usual process, the line was created by my then art director, now film director, Stuart Horrod and gave rise to the following 16 sheet (portrait) 48 sheet (landscape) posters and 60 second cinema commercial.
