Demi Moore and Willem Dafoe Collaborate With Brands On Short Films
John Dody
09/26/25 4:20AM
Demi Moore’s first film role since her Oscar-nominated turn in The Substance isn’t in Hollywood but in fashion. She stars as the matriarch of an alternate-reality Gucci family in Spike Jonze and Halina Reijn’s trippy short The Tiger, which premiered in Milan to kick off fashion week. In the 30-minute film, Moore plays Barbara Gucci, head of “Gucci International,” opposite Edward Norton, Elliot Page, and Keke Palmer, with cameos from Kendall Jenner and Ed Harris. The project doubled as the debut of Demna’s first collection for Gucci and quickly gained traction online—over 580,000 YouTube views in its first 24 hours, plus another 2.5 million on Moore’s Instagram, where she promoted the release to her 6 million followers.
The campaign is striking not just because of its surrealist storyline, but because Gucci is leaning into the cinematic ad format that luxury brands increasingly use to anchor cultural relevance. From Dior’s Lady Blue Shanghai directed by David Lynch to Rosamund Pike’s D-Journey promo film earlier this year, fashion houses have long realized that audiences engage more deeply when the product is wrapped in narrative rather than simple visuals. BMW famously pioneered the model with its The Hire series in the early 2000s, delivering higher exposure than traditional ads at just 56% of the cost—and boosting U.S. sales by 12%. That kind of return cemented short films as a viable marketing vehicle, especially when anchored by big-name talent.
Willem Dafoe is the latest to step into this cinematic crossover. The actor stars in The Taste, a short film by director Tim Pope that launches Laphroaig’s new “Unphorgettable” campaign. Like Moore, Dafoe isn’t just lending his face; he’s part of the creative process. Beyond acting in the spot, he collaborated with Laphroaig’s master blender Sarah Dowling in blind tastings to help design a forthcoming limited-edition Scotch expression, expected in 2026. The film, released last week, has already drawn more than 21,000 YouTube views in its first two days.
What ties Moore and Dafoe’s projects together is a broader movement: luxury brands are trading standard endorsements for cinematic storytelling, often giving stars more creative influence. That fusion of celebrity persona, narrative world-building, and product integration is proving to hold attention better than conventional ad slots. It also multiplies value across platforms—short films debut at premieres or festivals, then cascade across YouTube, Instagram, and even broadcast buys. With fashion houses, spirits makers, and automakers all leaning into the format, these campaigns blur the line between entertainment and advertising, turning stars like Moore and Dafoe into co-authors of brand mythologies rather than just ambassadors.
Luxury fashion isn’t the only world turning to cinematic storytelling. Just as Gucci rolled out Demi Moore’s The Tiger during Milan Fashion Week, Scotch whisky house Laphroaig has tapped Willem Dafoe to headline its own short film campaign, The Taste, directed by Tim Pope.
The project anchors Laphroaig’s “Unphorgettable” platform, positioning the brand’s famously divisive flavor — called everything from “dirt in a bottle” to “a smoky cornucopia of delight” — alongside an actor known for his equally singular, boundary-pushing career.
Unlike a typical celebrity endorsement, Dafoe’s involvement is hands-on. He worked directly with Laphroaig’s senior blender Sarah Dowling in blind tastings, helping shape a new expression set for release in 2026. As he described it:
“I tried to express what I was feeling and sensing… They designed something specifically, and I tasted it. I said, ‘Yeah, that’s it.’ So I was in a laboratory, basically, [and] I was the guinea pig.”
“I tried to express what I was feeling and sensing… They designed something specifically, and I tasted it. I said, ‘Yeah, that’s it.’ So I was in a laboratory, basically, [and] I was the guinea pig.”
-Williem Dafoe
The short film already has traction: Laphroaig x Willem Dafoe – The Taste has drawn over 21,000 YouTube views in just its first two days.
When paired with Gucci’s surrealist 30-minute epic starring Moore, a larger trend emerges: legacy brands are investing in short-form cinema with Hollywood leads to push campaigns beyond traditional ads. For Gucci, it was a fictional empire family. For Laphroaig, it’s Dafoe embodying the mysterious allure of Islay’s most polarizing malt. Both point toward a model where the story becomes as essential as the product — with actors not only starring but, in Dafoe’s case, literally shaping the product itself.
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