Howell Henry Chaldecott Lury is repositioning Guinness as ‘the big pint’
in its first work for the stout in Ireland since winning the business
this summer.
The drive, which is aimed primarily at a young audience of 18- to 24-
year-olds, is being spearheaded by three offbeat commercials featuring
wise men pondering ‘the big conundrum’ of how such a big-bodied pint
fits into the human hand.
The first stars a Chinese sage who wonders: ‘Guinness. Thirst-quenching,
chunky, full-on flavour. Universally known as the big pint. How does
such a sizeable beverage fit into a small human hand?’
The commercial then cuts to a rapid montage of hands snatching their
pints before the man finds his answer. ‘Don’t try to ponder the
imponderable. Have your cake and eat it too,’ the levitating sage
advises.
A second film features an American Indian chief who asks the same
question but gets no help from the ‘spirits of the sky’. He eventually
comes to the same conclusion, at which point the camera pans back to
reveal he is standing outside a ‘sleep in a wigwam’ park.
The commercials will run in the months up to Christmas as part of a
pounds 12 million integrated campaign. Other activities include 48-sheet
posters of pints, with headlines such as ‘XXXL’, ‘4D’ and ‘size
matters’, and giveaways in pubs to underline the idea that Guinness is a
‘big pint’. These include wrist strengtheners and special gloves to help
lift the drink.
The commercials were written by Al Young, art directed by Mark Howard
and directed by Trevor Melvin at Blink Productions.
Chris Satterthwaite, a partner at Howell Henry, said that the strategy
was to bring the pint down to earth after its recent advertising
history.
