CANADIAN WHISKY BRAND CROWN ROYAL TEAMED UP WITH ROCK LEGEND, DAVE GROHL TO BRING ITS GENEROSITY MISSION TO SUPER BOWL LVII THROUGH 60-SECOND SPOT – ‘THANK YOU CANADA’

“Diageo Owned Crown Royal, the Official Whisky Sponsor of the National Football League, Encourages Acts of Gratitude Starting with Super Bowl LVII”

New York, February 13, 2023 - Crown Royal, the official whisky sponsor of the National Football League (NFL), released its first-ever Super Bowl spot with a sixty-second ad featuring Dave Grohl. As an extension of the brand’s core platform of generosity, the award-winning whisky enlisted Grohl, to show a moment of gratitude to Canada for all the amazing things it’s given the world, from paint rollers to instant replays, peanut butter to hockey, surprisingly football, and, of course, Crown Royal. That’s right, Crown Royal used the spot to highlight amazing and beloved items not widely known to be Canadian including the very game that the Super Bowl celebrates, in a fun and conversation starting way.

The sixty-second spot is the very first Super Bowl spot from Diageo, the whisky brand’s parent company. In addition to poutine, Hawaiian pizza, and other Canadian treasures – it also honored Canadian legends like Joni Mitchell, Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, Seth Rogen, and Celine Dion. Following the ad’s debut, Crown Royal partnered with Canadian stars like Avril Lavigne who took to Twitter to join in on the fun conversation around their country, Canada.

Leading up to game day, Crown Royal took fans on a journey to the big spot reveal by rolling out various teasers including a modern take on O Canada performed by the extraordinary Canadian guitarist Donna Grantis and produced by Grohl. The mysterious teasers drummed up excitement and kept fans wondering what the brand and rock icon has up their sleeves for Super Bowl Sunday.

Ahead of The Big Game, Crown Royal took the opportunity to bring their tradition of generosity straight to the ground in Phoenix, Arizona with a special performance by Dave Grohl. The private, invite-only event took place Friday before Sunday’s kick-off and was attended by a select group of military veterans. Crown Royal leaned into their long tradition of honoring veterans and enlisted past partners CreatiVets and Packages From Home to round out the guest list with exclusive invites. The acoustic Grohl performance was made even more special with an opening act by singer, songwriter, recording artist, CreatiVets alum and combat veteran, Scotty Hasting. The venue was also flanked withone-of-a-kind artwork from Shawn Augustson, another CreatiVets alum and veteran and allowed for attendees to really interact and immerse themselves in this special experience. During the evening, attendees were able to pay it forward and express gratitude in the form of the Purple Bag Project, presented by Packages From Home, a decade-long initiative that provides care packages to men and women serving our country overseas.

“There is no bigger stage to say thank you than the Super Bowl and for a brand built on generosity we thought an appropriate time to thank Canada for giving us amazing things like the battery and most importantly football,” said Sophie Kelly, Diageo's Senior Vice President for whiskeys in North America. “For Crown Royal this is really just about saying thank you in a fun way that’s true to our roots.”

The brand also kicked off a “Crown Royal Chain of Gratitude” that follows the success of its "That Deserves A Crown” campaign – the brand’s first Web3 venture in digital collectibles. Consumers are invited to join the “Chain of Gratitude,” – a digital collectible-based game where Crown Royal themed prizes will be awarded based on the sharing of gratitude from one person to another.

Here's how it works:
To participate, players will visit web3.crownroyal.com, to mint1 of 2 digital “Tokens of Gratitude” and share a unique link to a friend to continue building their chain of gratitude. As the chain grows, the digital collectible which is available to players on that chain will also evolve dynamically.

• The “Gratitude Bag” will be minted should a participant choose to start a chain of gratitude OR participate in an existing chain by extending the chain of gratitude (i.e., .“passing the gratitude on”.)
• The “Gratitude Crown” will be minted should a participant decide not to engage in the game. They have the option to simply mint a digital collectible and end their involvement with the program there.

The objective is for players to continue growing their chain as the player who started the chain with the most players will win a custom Crown Royal cape and all others who are part of the winning chain may win a prize of Crown Royal sneakers. † Carmilla Sumantry, an up-and-coming Canadian-based digital artist, created the art for both collectibles.

Crown Royal didn’t just express gratitude in the spot, they celebrated all week long on the ground in Phoenix, AZ first by surprising local hospitality workers with Generosity Food Trucks featuring the sweet treats from Chef K and coffee from local shop,Sweet Waters Cafe as a thank you for making gameday great. The trucks ended the week near the State Farm Arena where they kept giving thanks to the hospitality community all the way up to Super Bowl Sunday kickoff. Crown Royal served hundreds of hospitality workers with the Generosity Food Trucks.

Crown Royal also celebrated Super Bowl LVII at the 12th Annual NFL Honors by raising a glass to the athletes and support teams that make gameday possible. Crown Royal fan and brand partner, Nate Burleson, hosted the red carpet and asked players to share what they were most thankful for this past season.

"Our brand prides itself on celebrating the generosity and selflessness of the military and hospitality communities, and we’re thrilled we could continue that work on-the-ground in Phoenix, where the city came together to put on a series of beautiful events this past weekend,” said Nicky Heckles, Vice President of Crown Royal. “We’re proud to close out a great second season as the official whisky partner of the NFL, extend the spirit of generosity and really champion those that make game day great at the stadiums across the country and in our daily lives.”

Generosity is nothing new for the Canadian whisky brand and over the last two years, Crown Royal has worked with over 30 charitable partners to champion hospitality workers and the military—from delivery drivers to volunteers in the stadiums, the whisky label has recognized the efforts of those who keep game day great through a $2M commitment through the Crown Royal Generosity Fund.‡ Super Bowl LVII puts a close to a season where Crown Royal matched over 500,000 tips for delivery drivers through a partnership with UberEats.

Crown Royal invites consumer 21+ to raise a glass to all those who help make your gameday great, and please drink responsibly.

†NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Must be legal U.S. resident, 21+ with Internet access & valid email. Chain of Gratitude begins 2/12/23 at 11:59:59 pm ET & ends 3/13/23 at 11:59:59 pm ET. OBTAIN 3^RD PARTY CONSENT BEFORE SHARING LINK WITH THEM. If winning Chain of Gratitude is comprised of 20 or fewer players (in addition to player starting Chain), all will win Crown Royal sneakers subject to verification; but if Chain is comprised of over 20 players (in addition to player starting Chain), only 20 prizes of Crown Royal sneakers will be awarded via random drawing. Void where prohibited. Alcohol is NOT part of any prize. See official rules for full details including additional entry, prize information/restriction and odds of winning.

‡Crown Royal Generosity Fund is a donor-advised fund, administered by Fairfield County’s Community Foundation, a nonprofit entity organized under IRC §501c3.

About Crown Royal
Crown Royal Canadian Whisky is the number-one selling Canadian whisky brand in the world and has a tradition as long and distinctive as its taste. Specially blended to commemorate a grand tour of Canada made by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth of Great Britain in 1939, Crown Royal's smooth, elegant flavor and gift-worthy presentation reflect its regal origins – it is considered the epitome of Canadian whisky. For more information, visit crownroyal.com. Crown Royal encourages all consumers to please enjoy responsibly.

About Diageo North America
Diageo is a global leader in beverage alcohol with an outstanding collection of brands including Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, Bulleit and Buchanan's whiskies, Smirnoff, Cîroc and Ketel One vodkas, Casamigos, DeLeon and Don Julio tequilas, Captain Morgan, Baileys, Tanqueray and Guinness.

Diageo is listed on both the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: DEO) and the London Stock Exchange (LSE: DGE) and their products are sold in more than 180 countries around the world.

For more information about Diageo, their people, brands, and performance, visit diageo.com. Visit Diageo's global responsible drinking resource, DRINKiQ.com, for information, initiatives, and ways to share best practice. Follow on Twitter and Instagram for news and information about Diageo North America: @Diageo_NA.

About CreatiVets
CreatiVets' is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to provide wounded veterans struggling with post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury with opportunities to use art, music, and creative writing to heal their unseen wounds of war. Their goal is to empower veterans with tools they can use for the rest of their lives and enable them to see their own capacity for success in an arena outside the battlefield. Learn more at creativets.org.

About Packages From Home
Packages From Home is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to send care and comfort packages to Active Duty military members stationed or deployed overseas (to include military working dogs & military K9 teams) as well as homeless, transitioning, and at-risk veterans by providing them with requested food, hygiene, and entertainment items to boost morale and quality of life. The care packages and supplies provided by Packages From Home are tokens of love and gratitude to these heroes for their many sacrifices in service of our freedoms as Americans.

About Vayner3
Vayner3 is a consultancy under the umbrella of VaynerX exclusively focused on guiding the world's leading enterprises and intellectual property owners in the next iteration of consumer behavior and navigating the ground-breaking and ever-evolving world of Web3. For more information, you can visit:www.vayner3.com.

Media Contacts
Michelle Gattenio
DIAGEO
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TAYLOR
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