Drink It In

Tequila’s image has evolved considerably from its days as a cheap libation for college kids and random revelers who bragged when they ate the worm. Today, several distillers engage in one-upmanship to market the most authentic, premium tequila available. Herradura touts itself as established in 1870 and “quintessentially Mexican,” as well as 100% natural, blue agave (experts contend only varieties made from the blue-agave plant are true tequila) and estate-bottled.

To convey its premium image to football fans in the Dallas area (which may be a redundant state-
ment), as well as visitors for the city’s hosting of last February’s Super Bowl, Brown-Forman, the Louisville, KY-based company that imports Herradura, ordered a building wrap at the intersection of Live Oak and Olive Streets near downtown Dallas, as a behemoth companion to the numerous billboards it fabricated for the campaign. Given the football theme and a Dallas location, the ad’s pitchman was a simple choice: Emmitt Smith, the former Dallas Cowboys’ Hall of Fame running back.

USA Image, also of Louisville, fabricated the wrap, which was designed for a high-rise near Cowboys Stadium. The company, which was founded in 1994, originally focused its work on producing billboards, but expanded its capabilities into building wraps as demand grew.

The shop produced the wrap using Value Vinyl’s 196-in.-wide, dip-coated, fire-retardant, matte-finish, 7.5-oz material. Camille Watson, USA Image’s account executive, said a lightweight mesh was essential to minimize the 212 x 52-ft. wrap’s bulk (even with the low-density material, the wrap still weighed more than 900 lbs). USA Image produced the wrap’s 14 panels on its EFI-VUTEk 5330 UV-ink, roll-to-roll printer with Fujifilm Sericol inks. They were melded together via radio-frequency welding, and reinforced pockets were sewn together. JAM Outdoor Management (Alvarado, TX) executed the project’s installation.

Installers secured the wrap using a system of cables, fiberglass rods and ratchets. Because of the wrap’s weight, USA Image double-reinforced the banner pockets.

Watson said, “The campaign was very successful; it received national TV and web exposure. The job was demanding, with very exacting finishing standards, and it required some serious teamwork to move the wrap around the warehouse to stitch and reinforce the pockets. But, the end result was well worth it.”
 

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