First it was big oil. Then it was big banks. Now it’s big beer.
The Amsterdam Brewing Company is taking aim at so-called “corporate” beer brands in a new out-of-home campaign developed by Toronto agency Huxley Quayle von Bismark.
The ads shoot down unnamed big beer brands with messages like “Drink like a man. Not for the man,” “Beer shouldn’t come from companies that need to have casual Fridays” and “Your bank should be corporate and stodgy. Not your beer.”
The messages accompany product shots of various Amsterdam beers, including its signature Natural Blonde Lager and Big Wheel brands. Each ad features the message “craft brewed in Toronto for 25 years.”
Andy Shortt, partner and creative director at HQvB, said the campaign is intended to position Amsterdam – which launched in Toronto in 1986 and is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year – as a “truly unique, fiercely independent” craft brewery. The intention, he said, was to create a marketing platform with longevity.
“Instead of individual campaigns for individual beers, we really wanted to figure out a platform which spoke more for the brewery,” said Shortt. “The idea behind it is that most beer is made by big faceless global corporations, where there’s more focus on money and profits.”
It is HQvB’s first campaign for Amsterdam since it began working with the brand earlier this year. The agency is currently working on a series of radio spots expected to debut within the next month, with a digital strategy to follow.
