Witty advertising continues to be central to the marketing campaign of Gosling?s rum as the 200-year old Bermuda company officially launches its new ?Gold Rum? brand here and also promotes its Black Seal Rum in the US.

While Black Seal Rum has long been the top selling spirit in Bermuda, Gosling?s is now striving to encourage locals to try its new ?Gold Rum?. After 109 years of just selling Black Seal, Gosling?s recently launched the new Gold rum as well as an ultra special Family Reserve Old Rum.

The Bermuda print ads will begin running next week and will feature a number of local Bermudians. Each is pictured at a different Bermuda location with a headline that claims they have ?Discovered Gold?. There is no Gosling?s identification and their hands are obscured, suggesting they may be clutching a gold nugget or gold dust.

Bermudian Stephen Raynor photographed some dozen Bermudians for the ad campaign that will run for four weeks. Payoff ads will feature the same Bermudians in the same poses, but will reveal what they are holding in their hands: a Gold Rum cocktail.

?These aren?t professional models or actors,? said Malcolm Gosling, President/CEO of Gosling?s Castle Partners. ?We wanted the stars to be real Bermudians of all ages, folks who typify our broad and loyal customer base.?

The year-long campaign aims to get the word out about gold which Mr Gosling deems ?luscious? and increase its local market share.

Glenn Kelley, President/CEO of Kelley & Company & Etc, Gosling?s advertising agency, said, ?We didn?t want to just run typical new product introductory ads. This is a momentous occasion for Gosling?s and their Gold product is a truly unique rum, so it called for something special. We think the ?teaser? ads will generate a lot of interest and talk.?

The gold ad campaign may eventually be taken to the US, but currently Gosling?s is having no problems drumming up interest in its product there. A new tongue-in-cheek billboard targeting skyrocketing gas prices has generated a lot of talk and media interest.

?Almost as Hard to Find As Cheap Gas?, warns the billboard which shows a bottle of Black Seal?.

Mr. Kelly said yesterday he had already had numerous writers and editors interviewing him about the billboard which arrived just as prices soared.

?It make us look smart because gas could have gone the other way. The billboard was in development four or five months ago and we were betting gas prices would go up so the timing was perfect with the media and from the strategic level,? he said.

This is not the first time strategy has paid off for Gosling?s which, with its small advertising budget, is trying to stand out against larger brands with huge advertising budgets.

Last spring, Boston commuters encountered a billboard which drew the same ?hard to find? comparison between Gosling?s rum and Whitey Bulger, a missing leader of the Irish Mafia, who has been on the run from the law for the better part of a decade.

Creative spending of the advertising dollar is easily giving back $20 in media attention in return.

?Fortunately, most spirit advertising is pretty ?blah?,? said Mr. Kelley. ?Our strategy continues to be topical and semi-controversial so the billboards get noticed, get talked about.?

Another topical and controversial bill board is due to be rolled out this summer in a dozen US markets.

Mr. Kelley?s agency represents a number of high end brands including BMW, Vale, Colorado and Steinway.

While the agency treats every campaign with avid enthusiasm, the avid golfer acknowledges he has a special place in his heart for Bermuda and Gosling?s.

He has been coming to the Island to play competitive golf for the past 15 years. He has been a fan of Gosling?s rum for the same amount of time.

?The Goslings are terrific group of people with a unique story ? a 200-year-old company, seven generations privately held.

?I really want to see them succeed and I have spent a disproportionate amount of time doing all I can to make things successful,? he said.