Checkmate

We really like the latest chapter in Hennessey’s long-running “What’s Your Wild Rabbit?” campaign. It centers on the heroic journey of the world’s first Black chess grandmaster, Maurice Ashley, who learned the game at New York’s once-renowned Black Bear School chess club. 

“What’s Your Wild Rabbit?” is a metaphor for the endless pursuit of achievement and excellence. Hennessey has run this campaign for eight years.

These new ads track Ashley’s progress from a teenager who knows nothing about the game. He gets schooled by the veteran players at the Black Bear School, studies the game 24/7, eventually decides to branch out from that insular world and try to become a grandmaster, succeeds, and then returns to NYC to spread the gospel of the chess to the next generation.

Hennessey has produced a 5-minute documentary style video, along with a shorter two-minute video and a few :15s, that will run on TV, digital, and social. They are designed to reach young men, especially young men of color, ages 21-34.

The ads are extremely well-done and seem really right for this particular moment in our culture.