—In this week’s instalment of The Redmond Review, a campaign for Aussie beer brand Furphy reminds Craig Redmond of Molson’s iconic “I Am Canadian” campaign.—

While out for a walk with my son along the North Vancouver quay pier recently, I came across the most peculiar sight. Standing atop a mooring post, wielding a red and white megaphone, was a young man wearing a plaid shirt and screaming at the top of his lungs across the Burrard Inlet.

“I AM CANADIAN!” he exclaimed, again and again.

Upon further inspection, I noticed a friend filming the spectacle with his phone. My ad manic mind deduced that this could be an homage to Canada’s most memorable and globally iconic advertising moment “The Rant.” Perhaps what we were seeing was a campaign revival, or maybe just a crazy Canuck’s TikTok rant to the world? Who knows.*

Regardless, it reminded me just how engrained the Canadian brand was in our psyche and for that fleeting marketing blip in history, to our nation.

It’s that rare, cultish brand phenomenon that Australia’s strangely named Furphy Beer seems to be aspiring to with its new campaign. The beer’s namesake is Aussie slang for a longwinded yarn that grows in exaggeration and infamy each time it’s spun—usually by a renowned regular at the local pub.

Furphy is now asking Down Underlings to submit their own far-fetched tales to fuel even more campaign stories to come like the one that launched the label (see it below).

QR code portals on Furphy beer coasters in 900 bars across the country will welcome would-be raconteurs to record their story for an instantly redeemable free pint and the chance to help further weave the fabled fabric of a great land’s lore.

If Furphy Beer has its way and its legend swells like the word that inspired it foretells, its “Unearthing Unbelievable” promotion might just incite its own version of nationalistic marketing folklore.

And maybe even one day, it could compel some other kid in Sydney Harbour to climb onto a mooring post and roar: “I AM FURPHYDIAN!”

*This story has been corrected and updated. The Rant debuted on TV in early 2000.

Craig Redmond is a creative leader with Palmer Stamnes and Co., an independent family of marketing communication companies