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Dive Brief:

• Lobos 1707 Tequila, the four-year-old spirits brand backed by LeBron James, launched an ad campaign starring the NBA icon and actor Victoria Justice, per a press release.

• Building on a teaser video, the full “Agent 1707” spot parodies James Bond as James faces down his rival, Justice, in a high-stakes, luxurious game of poker. The 90-second ad closes with a nod to James’ basketball career and a business partner.

• “Agent 1707” is running on social media and streaming TV platforms Hulu and Peacock. Agency Rosewood Creative handled the effort, with a production assist from Mssngpeces.

Dive Insight:

Lobos 1707 is placing a stronger focus on entertainment value in “Agent 1707.” The creative puts a LeBron-flavored twist on James Bond’s signature introduction — “The name’s Bond, James Bond” — and recalls “Casino Royale,” the installment that reignited the globe-trotting spy franchise in 2006. The campaign also includes references aimed at basketball fans, with James insisting he works solo before having an emotional reaction to a photo of Draymond Green, an NBA rival-turned-friend (Green is a fellow investor in Lobos 1707).

Along with putting Justice in the antagonist role, “Agent 1707” has a cameo from Lobos 1707 Founder and Chief Creative Officer Diego Osorio, who plays an undercover bartender in cahoots with James. The ad showcases the recipe for a Lobos Elote shot consisting of two parts Lobos 1707 Reposado Tequila, one part elote liqueur and a garnish of lime.

“We approached this campaign with the intention of creating something entertaining, but also culturally relevant. We wanted the video to reflect the sophistication and premium quality of our brand, but without taking ourselves too seriously,” Osorio said in a press statement.

Lobos 1707 operates in a hyper-competitive premium tequila category where there is an array of celebrity-backed offerings that rely on star power to drive consumer awareness. Competitors include 818 Tequila, which was founded by Kendall Jenner in 2021, Dwayne Johnson’s Teremana Tequila and George Clooney’s Casamigos.

Lobos 1707 frequently runs ads with recognizable names — a campaign from February featured Issa Rae alongside a cadre of famous faces — but “Agent 1707” represents a bigger bet on narrative-driven, humorous advertising that could help differentiate the product from the pack. The ads will appear on social media and streaming TV and could receive a boost from James’ recent Olympics performance, which helped lead Team USA basketball to its fifth consecutive gold medal.