§ 03 / 14
2018 · Creative / Copywriter · adam&eveDDB London
After a seven-year hiatus from television, Ireland's oldest beer brand needed a grand re-entry. To break through the noise of traditional alcohol advertising, the "Experience. It's what you do with it that counts" campaign introduced a meticulously crafted, cinematic hero: a thirsty, ruby-red Irish squirrel.
The spot follows our miniature protagonist inside the historic brewery walls, using generations of ancestral brewing expertise passed down to him to craft a flawless, thimble-sized pint of the iconic red ale. Seamlessly blending tactile live-action environments with world-class CGI character animation, the film balances a gritty, atmospheric cinematic texture with a playful, legendary charm, set to the rhythmic drive of the Kaiser Chiefs' Learnt My Lesson Well.
Accolades. Cannes Lions: Winner (Film Craft). Visual Effects Society (VES) Awards: Winner (Outstanding Animated Character). London International Awards (LIA): Winner (Animation / Post-Production).
Film Craft · CGI · OOH · Experiential
Smithwick's Ale, Ireland's oldest beer brand, had been off television for seven years. The re-entry had to feel like an event rather than a reminder, and it had to break through a category where atmospheric brewery footage and heritage voiceover are the default. Toby Brewer wrote the campaign as a Creative / Copywriter at adam&eveDDB London with art director Nikki Lindman.
The brand platform, "Experience. It's what you do with it that counts", is about inherited expertise. Rather than assert that in words, the team looked for a character who could embody generations of brewing knowledge and be impossible to ignore, and found one in a thirsty, ruby-red Irish squirrel with the confidence of a master brewer.
Directed by Simon McQuoid through Gorgeous with post and VFX by The Mill London, the film follows the squirrel through the historic brewery as he uses ancestral know-how to craft a flawless, thimble-sized pint. Tactile live-action environments are blended with CGI character animation so the world stays gritty and cinematic while the performance stays playful, cut to Kaiser Chiefs' "Learnt My Lesson Well". The work extended into out-of-home and experiential, and was recognised at Cannes Lions for Film Craft, at the Visual Effects Society Awards for outstanding animated character, and at the London International Awards for animation and post-production.
MATT CROSBY