What Beer Ads Can Be Like

This will come as no surprise to any of you, but it is a real pet peeve of mine to see ads that over-hype a beer, or, worse, come up with complete pretend concepts just to sell beer (microcarbonation, anyone?). I have written about this frustration in the past. It may be less obvious to you that I am not anti-advertising in principle, I just oppose marketing that insults consumers’ intelligence. For example I am a huge fan of the Bud Light “Real Men of Genius” radio ads. They are clever, entertaining and barely mention the beer. No over the top adjectives. No buxom women bursting out of their tops. Just smart writing and a healthy respect for the consumer.

Of course, that is the exception. Most of the time we get ads like this Molson M ad (thanks to Chris B. for sending it to me). Not to pick on Molson M (because it is such an easy target, after all), because we see dozens of ads like this every year. The majestic drama of Keith’s; the pretend family history of Sleemans; the faux-Canadiana of Molson Canadian.

In turn, most craft brewing advertising is boring (here is just one example from an admirable Canadian craft brewer). This is understandable – small budgets, earnest companies whose main focus is good beer. But still, it can make you yawn when you see it.

But yesterday I found a couple of low-budget ads from a small Colorado brewery, Breckenridge Brewery. They call the series “Truth in Beervertising” and they are remarkably clever. The ads have been around the interweb for a number of months now, but I simply didn’t come across them until yesterday. I like them. The direct mockery of the big boy claims is fun, especially since the ads are so under-stated. There are four of them, each taking on a particular mis-claim of the corporate brewers. One reminds us that “cold is not a flavour”. Another promises a new patented “cold activation system”. Another mocks the triple-hopped claim. This one is likely my favourite:

I think it like it best because of the wonderful, sardonic, deadpan “genius” tagline from the brewer. It adds to the faux-earnestness of the whole thing. The cold activation system ad is a close second for me. In the interests of bandwidth, I won’t embed all four, but you can see them at this beer news website.They make not a single (real) promise about their own beer, but the tone of the ads exude quality and integrity, which likely sells more beer than if they promised that it was brewed with “all natural ingredients” or other such claim.

Apparently the ads only cost them $10,000 to produce and they received modest airplay.Proof that good advertising can be intelligent, honest and affordable at the same time. I hope to see more smart ads like this in the future.