Fancy new "European" bottle
Ah Carlsberg; creators of some of my favourite beer ads. Aside from being the primary sponsor of the UEFA Euro football tournament, think of “Welcome to your Carlsberg Years; we’ve been waiting” (recently roughly sampled/homaged/stolen by a spirit producer I won’t mention). The cheeky “Possibly the Best Beer in the World”. Sure, some of their advertising does what all big-beer marketing does: try to make dudes and bros feel like they’re someone or something they’re not, but still, a lot of their campaigns are refreshingly sharp and savvy.
And they’re doing it again, leveraging Facebook in a clever way that I haven’t seen any other beer producers do yet (and, incidentally, this makes the day-job-me very happy). Make sure you’re logged-in to Facebook (in another tab or window), then check out http://ideserveone.ca. I did it, and have not been spammed and can still touch and feel and love, so I think we’ll all be okay.
This coincides nicely with a few recent(ish) events in the Carslberg story. A while ago, they moved production of Carlsberg for the Canadian market back to Denmark (before then it had been brewed on liscence domestically). They have also rebranded their bottles, going for what I would call the more “Grolsch-style”, in what is clearly an effort to insure people remember it’s brewed in Europe again. And I like that. Also, they’ve launched the “That Deserves a Carlsberg” slogan, probably the most pivotal part of this new campaign.
True, I generally prefer local micro to European macro (or, God forbid, North American macro), but on more than a few occasions, I find myself sipping a Carlsberg, be it at BMO watching TFC, at a big-brand sports bar after a hockey game or watching an event on TV, or on the tee-box at a golf course off the refreshment cart. Carlsberg does what is says on the can (or bottle). Malty beer with a bit of hop, good carbonation without being like soda, and a quick finish. Perfect for all the examples I just listed. And besides, the ad is just fun. Not as cool, perhaps, as the Arcade Fire/Google Chrome video from last year, but still, a clever app. You’ll understand once you’ve tried it, but I was amazed (although it could just have been luck), when the dude pointed at the pic of me and a friend with Theo Fluery and said “That’s cool!”.
Do give it a try, even if Carlsberg isn’t your cup of tea (or mug of beer).
