Based on the insight that 83% of Gen Z are craving in-person interactions, but three in four say they spend more time than they’d like on their phone, Captain Morgan is encouraging people to swap their screens for in-person meet-ups in its new campaign, ‘Thumbs’.

The campaign, created by Anomaly, focuses on the thumbs as the facilitator of the doom scroll and urges people to instead use their thumbs for good, to make plans with their friends.

A hero film shows a group of thumbs scrolling on their phones before reaching an ad for Captain Morgan holding a beach party. After an influx of messages in the group chat, the thumbs spot their scrolling and get ready for a night out. The thumbs are painted or manicured before arriving thumbs up at the party. Shot from the point of view of the thumbs, the humorous spot communicates the joy of in-person celebration in a unique way.

The spot is aptly set to the 2000s classic ‘Thong Song’ re-recorded by vocalist TemuMusic and produced by Jordan Crisp with new thumb-focused lyrics that layer humour onto the nostalgic track.

The campaign uses the thumb as a surreal symbol of the power of switching online interactions for physical, encouraging people to step away from their screens and make time for their friends. To further the message, Captain Morgan is staging cultural activations over the coming months that give friends an opportunity to get together.

Across the world, the brand is set to create pop-up bars in places notorious for having no phone signal to reduce the scroll and bring people together without distractions. While a Thumb Tales content series will give people an insight into social media content creators' offline activities.

“As a brand that celebrates spice and the unique character that each of us brings to the table, creating a campaign that encourages people to stop mindlessly scrolling in favour of meeting up with their friends in the real world was important to us.” says Samori Gambrah, Global Brand Director at Captain Morgan. It’s during these real-world moments that we can all be our authentic selves and really appreciate what each of our friends brings to our crew.”

With joy, humour and a touch of surrealism, Captain Morgan shuns the scroll and gives a thumbs up to in person connection.