Ever tried to play tennis when you are hammered? How about dock a space shuttle when you are frazzled, balance “stuff” when sozzled or visit a modern art gallery when bladdered? Well, for those of you who have, Carlsberg has seemingly got the answer; alcohol-free beer.
Yep, apparently the first global ad campaign for Carlsberg 0.0 – fronted by Bond villain turned Hannibal Lecter TV star Mads Mikkelsen – comes at the start of a year which is predicted to see more people drink alcohol-free beer than ever before.
You see, alcohol-free beer has seen huge growth in recent years and became more popular than ever during a turbulent 2020 (so the press release claims). Driven by an increased focus on health and wellness, the Carlsberg Group’s alcohol-free brews portfolio grew 29% between July and September of 2020; no mean feat considering most people were turning to the hard stuff to try to forget Covid-19.
The new ad, created by Grey Europe, will initially launch in Ireland and Denmark, with other markets set to follow later in 2021.
It sees our Mads once again playing the philosopher and opens with him peddling through Copenhagen as he explains: “We created Carlsberg 0.0 because even the best things can be better with alcohol-free beer.” The film cuts to our “hero” seemingly actually enjoying Carlsberg 0.0 in different situations, and even skipping his own ad.
Mads wraps it all up with the line: “So, can the best alcohol-free beer make good things better? Probably…”
Carlsberg global brand director Julian Marsili is in little doubt though. He said: “At Carlsberg we believe that there is more to beer than its alcohol content and that great moments can be made better with beer. That’s why we created a great tasting alcohol-free beer to make more moments even better. That’s what we wanted to celebrate in the ad.”
So, what is the consensus around the Decision Marketing office?
Well, as regular readers will know, we do love a bit of Mads, but we also love a lorra, lorra, lager, lager, lager, lager, so Dry January – or for that matter February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November or December – will never go down well here.
We are also conscious of the need to support the booze industry in its hour of need. Admittedly, it is tough work but someone’s got to do it. Therefore, there is 0.0 chance that the 0.0 brand will score anything other than 0.0 round here.
Still, we do quite like the ad, even though all those activities – especially visiting modern art exhibitions – are way more fun with a skinful.
Decision Marketing Adometer: A glass half full 7½ out of 10
