Shock Top Talks: Innovative Brand Communication

by Yitta Reich

Men everywhere: single and ready to mingle? Watch your backs because you’ve got some new competition. Get this: a mohawked orange slice named Wedgehead is one smooth talker with the ladies.

The new Shock Top beer campaign has taken the meaning of “bringing products to life” to a whole new literal level. In a series of videos, unsuspecting booze shoppers and bar-goers find themselves confronted by a talking case of beer or a talking beer tap with Wedgehead- the brand’s chatty mascot. It's a pretty creative and personalized way for the brand to get noticed in a crowded category right at the point of purchase.

The it speaks for itself campaign captures people’s interactions with the orange wedge through a series of hidden cameras.  The talking logo is a remote controlled animatronics creation, and the voice behind the playful wedge is coming from an actor watching the scene via a hidden camera set up in a nearby van along with the staff from the Anomaly, the brand’s communication agency (Martin).

“It’s a different way for our beers to talk to consumers across the country”, said Mike Bascom, brand director for Shock Top at Labatt (Krashinsky).  The idea of the campaign was to get away from the typical beer advertisements that focus on the ‘art of the beer’ and that “take themselves too seriously” according to the executive creative director. “They’re heavy into the ingredient mix, and the story. And here we have this beer with an orange wedge and a wheat Mohawk” (Krashinsky). 

What makes these videos especially funny is the unfiltered way in which Wedgehead chooses to express himself in and the way he caters his words for it to be relevant in every specific situation. In one video, he attempts to smooth-talk a lady when he says “I know you can’t tell because I am wearing these b----ing shades-but I am winking at you right now”. In another, he tells two older women deciding between what beer to choose “You’re not solving world piece, you’re picking a beer ladies. Relax”.

The talking wedge takes a few hits at the competition ridiculing their names and other associated brand elements. Customers at the deps and bars looking at other beer brands are interrupted by Wedgehead who attempts to talk them out of spending money on the competition (Krashinsky). 

Wedgehead ends every video by saying, “You know I’m a good beer. I know I am good beer. Let’s chat about something else”. The campaign is meant to reinforce the main beliefs of Shock Top: brewing great beer and living life unfiltered.

Check out the clips below to see how it all went down.

https://www.youtube.com/user/shocktopcanada/videos