Scotch ad featuring Anthony Bourdain doesn't sit well with viewers during Emmys: 'Act of disrespect for the dead'

Taryn Ryder

Anthony Bourdain’s spirit was felt at this year’s Emmys celebrations.

The celebrity chef and Parts Unknown host, who committed suicide in June, won posthumous Emmys for Outstanding Writing for a Nonfiction Program and Outstanding Informational Series or Special for his work on the acclaimed CNN travel show. He was also featured during the live telecast’s “In Memoriam” segment, much to the delight of viewers. But things went too far when Bourdain was featured in a commercial for the Balvenie, at least according to many on Twitter.

The Scotch whisky company aired an ad “honoring” Bourdain, about an hour after he was featured in the “In Memoriam” portion of the show. The 30-second spot features the late TV host talking about “following your passion.”

“If you feel in your heart, if you know, if you have reason to believe that you can be awesome at something, that you can do something unique that will shock, and astound, and terrify people and bewitch them — do that,” Bourdain says over a montage of him visiting with different artisans. (Of course, he is also seen drinking some Scotch whisky.)

The commercial ends with the company writing the following message to Bourdain: “And so you did. We’re proud to have shared the journey.”

The Kitchen Confidential author had partnered with the Scotch whisky brand since 2015, one of his few commercial endorsements, but the posthumous advertisement still didn’t sit well with many viewers. One person wrote, “a scotch brand used videos of anthony bourdain, beloved and recently dead from suicide with a long and well-known history of substance abuse, in a f***ing commercial????” Many people concurred:

There were still a few people who enjoyed it.

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