Canadian Club hires comic legend John Cleese to poke fun at ‘beer fairies’ in new campaign set to launch tomorrow via The Works, Sydney

Canadian Club is set to launch an extension of its ‘Over Beer?’ strategy with a campaign via The Works Sydney  – launching tomorrow – parodying beer guzzling Australians, dubbed Beer Fairies.

Monty Python and Fawlty Towers writer and actor, John Cleese, will feature as voiceover in the television commercial and will spark conversation about the predictability of beer and beer drinkers.

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“When I was approached by Canadian Club to be the voice behind the new advertisement, I jumped at the chance because the adverts were visually hilarious. I have in fact noticed on recent visits to Oz, a growing proportion of Beer Fairies among the male population. These smelly, overweight vulgarians represent the lumpenproletariat of beer drinkers – sad, dysfunctional creatures. It is therefore, in the interests of all decent Australians, to cull them. Let the slaughter commence!” said Cleese (left).

Developed to leverage consumer insights that beer is boring, Canadian Club have personified the predictable nature of beer by creating the Beer Fairy; a dirty, unappealing creature who embodies all the negative traits associated with beer drinkers, positioning its own brand, and drinkers, as a refreshing alternative.

Not afraid to take an aggressive stand against beer, Trent Chapman, Brand Director – Beam Global Australia, believes that Beer Fairies is another edgy and provocative campaign that challenges consumers to refresh their drinking choices: “We feel the current trend of Australians moving away from beer is only going to continue, and it’s important for Canadian Club to position itself as a refreshing alternative.

“Canadian Club has again been named Australia’s fastest growing spirit and RTD trademark, and we attribute the brand’s success to being both a fantastic product, and also inspiring Australians to think differently about their drinking choices. The Beer Fairies campaign parodies the negative insights that unfortunately the big beer companies face with their brands and we’re confident the new campaign will portray our brand as a brave challenger to beer,” said Chapman.

Damian Pincus, creative partner and founder, The Works Sydney, believes that Beer Fairies takes Canadian Club to the next level in its already meteoric growth: “We have continued the successful strategy of Over beer? and built on previous executions of the campaign. The future growth potential of Canadian Club is about broadening the audience and increasing trial of CC and Dry.

“This campaign has all the hallmarks of a great campaign. It’s a simple, considered idea that has been executed brilliantly. We have worked with tvc director Steve Saussey to make this campaign visually exciting and extended the idea through many forms of media. The campaign will go out in phases and will take the consumer on a journey. Beer Fairies has massive cut through and there is nothing out there like it,” said Pincus.

Canadian Club Australia’s Facebook page will house a promotion asking consumers to Join the Hunt and search for codes across outdoor, in-store and online advertising properties, with the page declaring hunting season open with $100,000 worth of instant prizes available. The Canadian Clubhouse promotional team will take to on and off-premise locations with iPads, inviting patrons to “Join the Hunt”, leveraging the Beer Fairies campaign through as many consumer facing channels as possible.

The Canadian Club brand has included many innovations throughout its 158 year history, from subscribing to an ageing process up to five times longer than any other North American distillery in the late 1800’s, to creating a special short-necked bottle in order to minimise breakages during transport – an idea conveniently formulated at the height of prohibition.

In recent months, the brand has taken another leap into beer’s traditional heartland, by releasing draught Canadian Club and Dry in a number of venues around the country. The move comes as the brand further positions itself as a refreshing alternative, with the comfortable and recognizable aspects of the tap making it easier for Australians to switch from beer to Canadian Club.

Agency: The Works

Brand Director: Trent Chapman