Back in January, mcgarrybowen launched a new campaign for Canada Dry ginger ale, designed to “help consumers achieve ideal relaxation, using the calming qualities and real ginger taste of Canada Dry Ginger Ale,” according to director of marketing and content Chanda Ridley.
Now The Richards Group has released a digital spot entitled “Busy is a 4-Letter Word” which applies the brand’s arbiter of relaxation approach to a social experiment which stretches it well past its breaking point.
“Busy is a 4-Letter Word” opens on the message “Some of us loving being busy,” followed by interviews with a group of chronically busy individuals. They describe being busy as “achieving,” “winning,” “successful,” and “winning.” But their friends and loved ones don’t see things the same way and have different definitions for the word.
The busy-loving individuals are confronted with these alternate definitions from the important people in their lives and things get predictably emotional. But while tackling the issue of business and relaxation felt fine for the brand in a pair of lighthearted broadcast ads, it feels incredibly unnatural here, particularly when the spot tells viewers “Stop being busy. Start enjoying the things that matter most.”
Because we’re pretty sure the answer to that isn’t ginger ale. While the message is perhaps well-intentioned, it all just goes to show that the branded social experiment can only go so far before it feels inauthentic and, well, kind of bizarre. We won’t even get into the irony of overworked agency folks working on a campaign about being busy.
The campaign also includes a social media element, influencer outreach, and further digital components, as well as a quiz that tells you what type of “busy” you are on the campaign landing page.