Over the weekend, our friends at The Wall Street Journal told us that light beer ads need to change as Americans increasingly prefer hoppy alternatives to whatever you want to call your cheapo 4.7 percent pilsner. The industry obviously agrees as its two biggest brands recently moved their accounts to different agencies: Bud Light went from BBDO to W+K and Coors Lite from Cavalry to 72andSunny.
From the WSJ piece:
“Next year, ads for Bud Light will start focusing on its quality and ability to bring people together. Meanwhile, MillerCoors is going to focus more on marketing to women. It won’t be easy to sway a new generation of beer snobs and whiskey lovers.”
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They might want to turn to stouts for inspiration. Guinness just released its latest ad in Korea, and Campaign says that the work (created by Dentsu’s Iris and production company The Sweet Shop) “appears to be targeting women at least as much as men.”
That was an entry for the “ads disguised as music videos” genre. But what was with the frat bro at the end?
“The bulk of the beer market in South Korea is currently dominated by local lagers, something the Diageo-owned brand is hoping the campaign will turnaround.”
So it’s casting Guinness as a craft beer, or at the very least an exotic alternative to the watered-down stuff that rules the market. Pretty sure that’s not going to work for AB InBev, though–and “ads…focusing on its quality and ability to bring people together” sounds a whole lot like “Grab Some Buds,” which has been around for a while.
Credits
Agency: Iris Worldwide
Global creative director: Shaun Mcilrath
Creative director: Nina Taylor
TV producer: Laura Stageman
Strategic planning lead: Paul Gage
Account director: Ross Henderson
Account manager: Mimi Lee
Director: John S Park
Production company: The Sweet Shop
Executive producer: Spencer Dodd
Producer: Jason Lee
DoP: Sung Ho Jeoun
Editor: Se Jin Yoo
Service production: Addict Films
