Droga5 has a new campaign for Strongbow Cider that takes a tongue-in-cheek approach not unlike the agency’s work for fellow Heineken-owned brand Newcastle.
In a new spot for Strongbow, released in the heart of cider season, the brand pokes fun at a longtime alcohol advertising cliche, the slow-motion horse. As Adweek points out, this trope has been around since a 1982 ad for Budweiser Light (the brand’s first) employing a slow-motion Clydesdale. In the new Strongbow ad, however, the horse moves in slow motion while a couple walks down the beach at normal speed, continually stopping to wait for the horse to re-enter the frame. The spot emphasizes that Strongbow is best over ice, with a line of logic that “Apples are good, Strongbow Hard Cider is better, but Strongbow over ice is the best.” Enjoying it with your own slow-motion horse, however, is “the bestest.” The joke really works best in the 30-second format, as it feels a bit stretched at 60 seconds, but it’s a good dig at category cliches that hopefully means the end of brands attempting to use the slow-motion horse seriously.
Credits:
Client: Strongbow, Heineken USA
Brand Director: Alejandra De Obeso
Global Marketing Manager: Olivier Darses
Senior Director, Portfolio Brands: Charles Van Es
Chief Marketing Officer: Nuno Teles
Agency: Droga5, New York
Creative Chairman: David Droga
Chief Creative Officer: Ted Royer
Creative Directors: John McKelvey, Hannes Ciatti
Copywriter: Molly Jamison
Art Director: Eric Dennis
Chief Creation Officer: Sally-Ann Dale
Head of Broadcast Production: Ben Davies
Broadcast Producer: Verity Bullard
Chief Strategy Officer: Jonny Bauer
Digital Strategy Director: Dan Neumann
Group Account Director: Dan Gonda
Account Director: Nadia Malik
Production Company: Rattlingstick
Director: Hamish Rothwell
Director of Photography: Ben Seresin
Executive Producer: Joe Biggins
Producer: Sam Long
Editing: Workpost Editorial
Editor: Rich Orrick
Assistant Editor: Adam Witton
Executive Producer: Erica Thompson
Postproduction: The Mill
Head of Production: Sean Costelloe
Producer: Alex Fitzgerald
Colorist: Fergus McCall
Flame Artist: Nathan Kane
Music: Human
Founding Partner: Marc Altshuler
Producer: Jonathan Sandford
Sound: Sonic Union
Studio Director: Justine Cortale
Producer: Pat Sullivan
Mix Engineer: Stephen Rosen