Day of the Dead Legends Prove Who's Boss in Mexican Halloween Ads

Day of the Dead is one of Mexico’s most symbolic celebrations and Cerveza Victoria -part of Grupo Modelo AB InBev- has built a reputation creating campaigns that invite Mexicans to celebrate this important tradition.

This year, together with J. Walter Thompson Mexico, Victoria revisits the most feared Mexican legends and confronts them with some of the classic Halloween horror characters in a duel that ends in an extraordinary movie-quality production. A mummy and a vampire turn pale in the presence of La Llorona, The Black Charro and The Lady in Red.

 

For the two spots that are already airing in Mexico (TV and online), several personalities from the horror and suspense movie industry were summoned. Daniel Benmayor, director of films such as Tracers, Bruc and Paintball, was selected as the storyteller. The makeup was helmed by Barney Burman, Academy Award winner to Best Makeup in 2010 for Star Trek and responsible for the makeup of characters from Jack The Reaper, Star Trek: Into Darkness and Voodoo Possession, amongst others. Antonio Riestra (Last Knights, Mama and Goya Award winner for Black Bread) was in charge of cinematography. Rosa Films was the production company.

“Today more than ever, you have to be interesting for your target audience. Conversations are happening and if you want to join, you have to be one of them, play their games and speak their language,” stated Gabriel Vazquez, Creative VP at J. Walter Thompson Mexico. “Beyond the national Mexican conversation about Day of the Dead, there are also other angles. Young audiences are reinterpreting their traditions and bringing life into them."

“This campaign is a breakthrough on how brands should be communicating in the future, taking higher risks and doing things differently. We cannot keep doing the same and expect a different result. The big bet with this Victoria campaign is that it’s focused on entertaining, rather than on selling,” explained Edson Noyola, Regional Brand Director at Grupo Modelo ABI.