The inclusive beer ad

Background

Jupiler is Belgium’s leading beer and also a stereotypically masculine brand.

Stemming from the insight that many men still don't know how to cope with modern times, gender equality, metoo, etc, Jupiler wanted to play a role in showing them the way.

Idea

On May 18th, rockstar Sarah Bettens announced she was to be known from that moment on as Sam Bettens. Her transition from from female to male was big news and an important step towards the normalisation of transgender people. For Jupiler it was an opportunity to show men how to react to transgenders in general.

On May 19th, Jupiler published an ad saying, “Beer, Sam?”, calling him by his new name and gender. The message was clear: Sam is one of the guys.

Results

A total earned reach of 30.4 million impressions, reaching 5.2 million Belgians offline (from a total population of 11 million) and 8.2 million online. TV and radio coverage reached 7.1 million Belgians. Earned media value was estimated at €1.3 million.

The phrase “Beer, Sam?” entered into popular culture. It was even used to help sell Sam’s new book. 84% of respondents stated that there was a good brand fit between the action and Jupiler

Our Thoughts

Many print titles have suffered from Covid.

The FT’s print sales were down 39% in April.

In May, The Daily Mail reported advertising revenues down by 70%. Though they’ve been getting record numbers of readers online, brands have been sitting on their hands, reluctant to spend. Which is all the more reason to celebrate the fact that print is clearly alive and kicking in Belgium. Just as KFC reached a billion people with a press ad saying FCK, here’s a single ad reaching 62% of the entire country. Don’t tell me press advertising doesn’t work.