JWT Bows First Foster's Work

CHICAGO-Foster’s Lager is not just for Australians in the arid outback, but for modern, upscale beer drinkers, a new ad campaign by J. Walter Thompson asserts.

The Chicago agency’s first work for the Australian brewer keeps the “How to speak Australian” theme in three TV spots that break today.

The 30-second ads keep the feel of the old campaign, with the message that Foster’s is a fun beer to drink. But the similarities end there. The new spots, shot in Sydney and with Australian actors, focus on urban lifestyle rather than adventures down under and are 15 seconds longer than previous ads.

“We wanted to take the beer into a club and more contemporary situations,” said dennis Ryan, JWT’s executive creative director.

The first spot depicts a young Australian couple on their first date in a trendy bar.