Amstel’s ‘Shot Without Permission’ carries a wider message for the creative industry

Amstel has launched ‘Shot Without Permission’, a photographic project that captures unguarded moments, drawing attention to the industry’s reliance on performed bonding.

Instead of casting actors or staging scenes, Ingo Amsterdam and Ogilvy Amsterdam have shot real people without prior consent, in order to capture the unguarded joy of ‘IRL’ action.

Notices that the filming would occur were present, but the campaign adds a note that, if you spot yourself in the images, you can claim usage fees at compensation@amstel.com.

The work was led by global CCOs Liz Taylor (Ogilvy) and Daniel Fisher (Ingo), with executive creative directors Nicolas López Bravo and Fernando Montero at Ingo Amsterdam.

Like Amstel’s previous ‘AS REFRESHING AS’ campaign, created by Ogilvy Bolivia, with director Federico Suárez and photography director Ytalo Cabruja, this idea was also culture-led. ‘AS REFERSHING AS’ was very different in its execution, however, tying Amstel’s Amsterdam-born recipe to the feeling of ‘being yourself’.

Our take

Given that the creative industry is obsessed with authenticity, culture and ‘no filter’ content, this campaign feels apt for the moment we’re in, and we reckon there’s some take-home learnings.

In an age of carefully curated social feeds and performative friendships inducing cringe rather than relatability, Amstel celebrates the kind of messy, impossible to fake realism that’s rare, but prized.

By shooting first and asking permission later, the brand has created something that feels uniquely human and quietly rebellious. It’s a flex that many advertisers shoot for and fail, but Amstel has nailed it using, as the internet might say ‘one simple trick…’.