Connor’s Stout says it’s okay if you don't achieve grandness

Ad Nut didn’t realize there was so much at stake behind the ritual of drinking of beer.

That the choice you make in brew will forever brand you to be of a certain camp or tribe of people.

Squirrels don’t have such hang-ups with nuts. A nut is a nut. And especially come winter, any nut is a good nut.

But in a bid to free beer-drinking humans from the heavy burden of expectations that comes with being seen with a particular pint, Connor’s Stout Porter by Carlsberg has a new campaign saying “It’s okay, really.”

The creative team at Havas Worldwide discovered that all beer brands are asking people to achieve grandness, but that people are looking for “purposeless and candid interactions from their beer moments.”

There’s a three-month campaign launched in April to drive the point home across digital, print and OOH.

Creative for the campaign includes a series of chalkboards placed outside pubs and bars, which invite consumers to come in and enjoy a pint of Connor’s Stout Porter.

Additionally, the agency created an activation called ‘A Night Made Right’, including games, contests and casual fun for groups of friends, which was organized at bars across Malaysia.

Ad Nut appreciates the angle the campaign is trying to take here. After all, having a pint shouldn’t be a stressful experience wrought with worries, and drinking with friends is always nicer than drinking alone.

But as one stout-drinking colleague of Ad Nut points out, it’s the fancy IPA and craft brew fellows that have such hang-ups over achieving grandness. The stout lovers don’t give two shakes.

CREDITS:

Executive creative director: Ezra Foo
Creative director: Khor Kok Yang
Art director: Alvin Pak
Copywriter: Chung Yi-Shen
Account manager: Dennis Kam