180 Stories: ‘Hold My Beer’

In this new series by 180 Kingsday, we go behind the work to uncover how things got done, the ups, the downs and the tricks involved in bringing great work to life.

In this episode, 180 Kingsday creatives, Brit Ed Ryder and Kiwi Joe Craig and Canadian producer, Jordan Cross, take you behind the scenes of their latest ‘Hold my Beer’ campaign for Amstel Russia.

180 Kingsday have worked with Amstel Russia for two years, launching the Amstel ‘Serious about Beer and Friendship’ campaign in 2016 that had begun to premiumize the brand successfully in Russia.  This second campaign needed to continue the theme.

So where did the idea for the latest ad come from? Like all the best ideas, it’s rooted in truth. Both Ed and Joe had ‘enjoyed’ the real-life misfortune of being stuck holding someone else’s beer for far too long. Knowing they weren’t the only ones who had been stitched up like this touched on a nice beer truism that they could then playfully exaggerate.

The campaign sailed through approvals. One of those ideas that everyone sees and says yes to - especially when the product is front and centre. Things seemed to be going too well. And of course, they were. A Russian economic crisis cut their budget in half.

To deal with this the team brought production in-house - creating a bespoke production crew and hired a freelance director to keep the team small and the production nimble. The good news was that the team were able to partner with freelance director Justin Rearden, well known for his Budweiser ‘Wassup’ commercial. Working with Rearden was a great pleasure as he was able to bring the story and the characters to life in a really fun and evocative way.

One thing you wouldn’t know from watching the ad is that it was filmed in reverse. They started filming the main man, the Adrien Brody lookalike holding two Amstel beers, with a really shaggy beard and long hair and then slowly they trimmed his facial hair back until he looked like he did in the first shot.

For their next episode in the 180 Stories series, we’ll be talking to the team who created a musical TVC for the upcoming FIFA World Cup. Stay tuned…..