Johnnie Walker has built its legacy on heritage and ritual. But in 2025, heritage alone doesn’t buy relevance. Cue a bold move: the world’s number one Scotch whisky brand signing a global, multi-year partnership with pop superstar Sabrina Carpenter. Timed to her album Man’s Best Friend and the final leg of her Short n’ Sweet tour, the partnership blends whisky culture with pop fandom, remixing Scotch for a new generation through cocktails, music-led content, and Carpenter’s self-styled aesthetic.

For Diageo, this isn’t about taste notes and tradition - it’s about accessing Gen Z culture at scale. For Carpenter, it’s another brand alignment that expands her influence beyond music into lifestyle territory.

📊 Supporting Stats

Johnnie Walker is the world’s top-selling Scotch whisky brand, moving nearly 19 million cases annually across 160 markets (IWSR, 2019).
Global whisky sales are being reshaped by younger consumers: 32% of Gen Z alcohol drinkers in the US prefer spirits over beer or wine (IWSR, 2024).
Sabrina Carpenter is one of the most streamed artists globally in 2024, with “Espresso” hitting over 200M streams in its first month and driving her Short n’ Sweet album to debut at #1 on the Billboard 200.

🎤 Why Sabrina Carpenter Fits the Brand

Fearless Progress Narrative
- Johnnie Walker’s “Keep Walking” platform has always been about forward momentum and self-determination.
- Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet and Man’s Best Friend eras are explicitly about confidence, boldness, and unapologetic self-expression - essentially a Gen Z spin on the same ethos.
Generational Relevance
- Whisky has historically skewed older, male, and traditional. Carpenter brings access to a global Gen Z and Millennial fanbase - audiences who are starting to drink spirits but don’t see Scotch as “their” drink yet.
- Aligning with her allows Johnnie Walker to shift perception from dusty tradition to playful modernity.
Music as a Connector
- Music is one of Johnnie Walker’s longstanding brand levers (they’ve collaborated with artists before, often framed around progress and creativity).
- Carpenter is currently one of the most culturally visible artists, with songs like “Espresso” becoming generational anthems. The brand is essentially betting that her cultural heat transfers into reimagining whisky moments.
Pop Culture Crossover Value
- Carpenter operates at the intersection of music, fashion, internet culture, and humour - all areas Johnnie Walker wants to tap into for global relevance.
- She’s not just a musician; she’s a memeable, style-savvy personality who can translate whisky into a shareable, cultural conversation starter.

🧠 Decision: Does It Work?

Yes - strategically, this partnership is a smart play. For Johnnie Walker, tying the brand to Carpenter positions whisky not as an inherited ritual but as a lifestyle choice aligned with bold, playful self-expression. It’s an attempt to make Scotch as relevant at a concert afterparty as it is in a mahogany bar.

For Carpenter, this is less about cashing in and more about extending her brand as a cultural tastemaker. By putting her stamp on Johnnie Walker serves (like her signature Cherry Highball), she translates a heritage brand into a format her fanbase can actually engage with.

The risk lies in cultural alignment. Whisky remains a product with deep associations with masculinity, tradition, and older demographics. Carpenter’s hyper-current, internet-native persona might feel like a mismatch to whisky purists. But that friction is precisely where the cultural spark comes from.

📌 Key Takeouts

What happened: Johnnie Walker announced a global, multi-year partnership with Sabrina Carpenter, launching with album-tied content and cocktail activations.
What worked: Smart cultural crossover, leveraging Carpenter’s Gen Z reach to reframe whisky as playful and progressive.
What didn’t land: Whisky traditionalists may see the move as superficial, diluting brand heritage.
Signal: The spirits industry is shifting from heritage-first storytelling to collabs rooted in pop culture and music fandoms.
For marketers: Pairing legacy brands with culturally current talent works when it feels like co-creation, not just endorsement.

🔮 What We Can Expect Next

Expect more spirits brands to court music superstars as co-creators, not just campaign faces. With Carpenter headlining festivals and tours globally, Johnnie Walker has found a direct route into Gen Z nightlife and digital fandom. If the cocktails land as social moments - Instagrammable, remixable, easy to replicate - this could mark a blueprint for how spirits evolve from “dad’s drink” to a cultural accessory.

The risk? Oversaturation. If every whisky or tequila brand rushes to sign a pop act, the novelty will fade. But right now, Johnnie Walker has the first-mover advantage in turning Scotch into pop spectacle.