Who: Moosehead Breweries (Samuel Adams brand), with Arrivals + Departures for strategy and creative; Craft PR in collaboration with DDMG Communications for PR in Quebec, and Media Experts for media.
What: A launch campaign for the beer brand’s new Wicked Easy hazy lager, building on the “Premium, not precious” campaign that launched in Quebec last year and playing off the distinctive Boston accent. Original French creative will debut later this summer.
When & Where: The campaign debuted last month, running through Sept. 20 across digital video, paid social and out-of-home. The latter includes billboards and a mobile billboard that will circle the Rogers Centre during the upcoming series between the Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox.
Why: Wicked Easy has “zero awareness” in the key Ontario market, said Kevin Murray, brand manager, import beer and cider, at Moosehead Breweries. The campaign is designed to show just how “approachable” the beer is, he said.
How: All of the creative plays off the highly distinctive Boston accent, in which the letter “r” gets flattened to produce an “ah” sound. The out-of-home executions use phrases like “Wicked smooth beah sold heah” and “paihs well with caviah or foot lawngs,” while social ads are presented as a series of “Wicked easy Boston language lessons” informing would-be linguists how to talk Bawstin (eg: “Don’t wawry, I’ve got beah covered faw the cawtage”).
“[W]e decided to lean into the ‘Bawstonian’ accent to express just how accessible “Wicked Easy” really is,” said Arrivals+Departures chief creative officer Jeff MacEachern. “We felt this idea naturally represented both our Boston origins and this beer very well to drive awareness of this new product launch.”
What’s in an accent: Technically the Boston accent is known as a non-rhotic accent, and it can be traced back to the earliest New England settlements. Brands as diverse as Hyundai, Dish Network, and Maker’s Mark have all played off the accent in campaigns. Perhaps not surprisingly, Bostonians tend to get a little bit tetchy about how the accent is portrayed.
And we quote: “Much like Bostonians, the beer is hardworking yet laid back, gritty yet down to earth, sophisticated while keeping it simple. Bostonians are a great living metaphor for what Samuel Adams’ new premium import “Wicked Easy” is all about.” — Jeff MacEachern, chief creative officer, Arrivals+Departures
