Super Cool Guinness Ad

[Basilisa Marie]

http://youtu.be/xwndLOKQTDs

 

"The choices we make reveal the true nature of our character."

 

What do you guys think? I for one was happy that they're marketing a brand of masculinity that is more than just the idiot caveman. :) 


 

Edited September 7, 2013 by Basilisa Marie

[Era Might]

I don't get who they're trying to reach with that. I see a guy in a wheelchair and alcohol, and the implication isn't a good one (I think drunk driver).

Edited September 7, 2013 by Era Might

[Era Might]

And the tagline about "the choices me make" is even more weird and makes me think of drunk driving even more.

[Nihil Obstat]

I don't get who they're trying to reach with that. I see a guy in a wheelchair and alcohol, and the implication isn't a good one (I think drunk driver).

How are you getting drunk driving out of that? He is just in a wheelchair. It happens.

[Era Might]

How are you getting drunk driving out of that? He is just in a wheelchair. It happens.

 

Well I guess, but I don't know what that has to do with Guiness or alcohol or basketball. The only association I make between a wheelchair, alcohol, and "the choices me make" is drunk driving.

[Era Might]

And the music is a real downer too (as someone says in the YouTube comments), which makes me think of drunk driving even more.

 

Maybe this idea could have been done right if they had started the commercial with a bet and the friend says "losing team buys Guiness," and then have some upbeat music, and then they all laugh their way to the bar. As it is this is a bizarre piece of marketing. Who plays wheelchair basketball and then goes to drink Guiness with sad music playing?

[Era Might]

Though this is a good comment from YouTube:

 

This is pure brand marketing. This ad does not aim to make you get up from your chair and go buy a beer. It aims to profile a brand of the beer, increase its value

 

Maybe. I still think it's a weird commercial, though maybe I'm just not their target market.

[Aloysius]

it's pretty basic, man, it's like when there's a special showing of a movie or something on TV that cuts out on occasion to say "This movie is brought to you commercial free by ____ company"... there's nothing in the movie that makes you want to buy their product, but you enjoy the movie and you know that company paid for you to be able to enjoy it with limited interruptions, so you remember the brand name.  

 

this is a general good message video people like to see and maybe be inspired by, and at the end they get to know that it was Guinness that brought it to them.  all that's needed for something to be an advertisement is that you mention your brand (or product if your brand isn't already widely known)... that's it.  that's why completely irrelevant commercials with jokes or sex in them, having absolutely nothing to do with the product they're selling, work.  it's also why nice message commercials like these work.  personally I much prefer things like these to things that are specifically re-worked to be total advertisements (ie your suggesting of starting off with a bet that the loser buys the guiness)... it's nice to just have simple good messages and enjoyable skits with a blurb about what company put them together, it's much more human and enjoyable, than a bunch of commercials where the message is explicitly and exclusively "buy our product"

[Era Might]

it's pretty basic, man, it's like when there's a special showing of a movie or something on TV that cuts out on occasion to say "This movie is brought to you commercial free by ____ company"... there's nothing in the movie that makes you want to buy their product, but you enjoy the movie and you know that company paid for you to be able to enjoy it with limited interruptions, so you remember the brand name.  

 

this is a general good message video people like to see and maybe be inspired by, and at the end they get to know that it was Guinness that brought it to them.  all that's needed for something to be an advertisement is that you mention your brand (or product if your brand isn't already widely known)... that's it.  that's why completely irrelevant commercials with jokes or sex in them, having absolutely nothing to do with the product they're selling, work.  it's also why nice message commercials like these work.  personally I much prefer things like these to things that are specifically re-worked to be total advertisements (ie your suggesting of starting off with a bet that the loser buys the guiness)... it's nice to just have simple good messages and enjoyable skits with a blurb about what company put them together, it's much more human and enjoyable, than a bunch of commercials where the message is explicitly and exclusively "buy our product"

 

I work in marketing so I definitely understand how content marketing works, I just think this is a failed execution. BUT, I also admit that I'm not the kind of person who would go to a pub and drink a Guinness, so it's possible that this will appeal to the kind of people who would do that. If that was their goal then maybe it could work, but will this appeal to a general audience? I don't know, but I am the general audience and I just find it weird.

 

I don't mind something that is geared toward a "message," I just don't get what the message is here. But clearly Guinness is geared toward a classier kind of person than me, lol, so I recognize I'm not the best person to give an impression.

[Era Might]

all that's needed for something to be an advertisement is that you mention your brand (or product if your brand isn't already widely known)... that's it.  that's why completely irrelevant commercials with jokes or sex in them, having absolutely nothing to do with the product they're selling, work.

 

Nothing is ever irrelevant in a commercial (a good commercial, anyway). Even if the message is not communicated in a literal way, everything in the commercial is based on the brand. Of course, I'm analyzing this commercial way more than a regular person would because I'm interested in it as a commercial. Most people just take away a feeling, an impression, etc. And brands can evolve, and their advertising signals an evolution. This kind of commercial is very different from the old "BRILLIANT!" commercials...maybe Guinness is trying to hit a less generic but more loyal consumer. I don't know how representative this commercial is with the rest of their advertising right now, maybe it's just a stab at reaching a certain segment of men who do stuff like play wheelchair basketball. But at the end of the day, this is not about altruism...they're trying to sell a product, whether they say that upfront or not. It's just a matter of who they're trying to sell it to.

[Semper Catholic]

Agree with Era this ad is off the mark. I'm sure they got plenty of negative feedback in test groups but not enough to scrap the idea. The kind of "uplifting message ads work better for Nike then for beer companies because there is a significant portion of the audience who have terrible experiences with alcohol.

[arfink]

I don't know Semper, I think I have more terrible experiences from attempting to be physically fit than I have had with alcohol. Just sayin'.

[Basilisa Marie]

Dude, seriously guys? It's pretty darn obvious what message they're sending.  :|

 

What they're doing is intentionally breaking from the typical sexy beer commercial mold. They're saying that their audience is made up of real men, with the moral fiber to go out of their way to help their friend. They're learning to play basketball in wheelchairs so their friend can play basketball with them.  It's got nothing to do with drunk driving. 

[Era Might]

Dude, seriously guys? It's pretty darn obvious what message they're sending.   :|

 

What they're doing is intentionally breaking from the typical sexy beer commercial mold. They're saying that their audience is made up of real men, with the moral fiber to go out of their way to help their friend. They're learning to play basketball in wheelchairs so their friend can play basketball with them.  It's got nothing to do with drunk driving. 

 

It's not what you say, it's what people hear. Advertising is not about messages, it's about effect. Messages simply serve the effect.

 

They didn't make this ad to advance love and peace. It's a nice sentiment, but whatever their reasons were, it was business related...a particular market segment, a particular branding strategy, etc.

 

They're not saying that their audience is anything. They're saying that this commercial is intended for a certain audience. They want the drunks to buy their product too, they just didn't focus on them in this commercial.

[Basilisa Marie]

It's not what you say, it's what people hear. Advertising is not about messages, it's about effect. Messages simply serve the effect.

 

They didn't make this ad to advance love and peace. It's a nice sentiment, but whatever their reasons were, it was business related...a particular market segment, a particular branding strategy, etc.

 

They're not saying that their audience is anything. They're saying that this commercial is intended for a certain audience. They want the drunks to buy their product too, they just didn't focus on them in this commercial.

 

...that's exactly what I mean. They're targeting a specific audience, and trying to associate their product with a certain lifestyle or idea. 

 

What I'm saying is that for once, a beer company is trying to brand itself with a pretty positive image of masculinity, one that's about loyalty and friendship, and not about sex and fat slobs watching a game.