Mike’s Hard Lemonade’s snarky shopkeepers decide if your day’s been hard enough to earn one

The patrons of this convenience store have had a hard day—and that’s before they meet Hank and Joel. In a new campaign, the pair of snarky shopkeepers closely guard the Mike’s Hard Lemonade cooler, making certain that customers ordering a six-pack of Mike’s have had a hard enough day to deserve it. The details of the customer’s bad day are then revealed in over-the-top physical comedy. In one, a school mascot is blindsided by a football player. Another shows a deliveryman chased through a fence by a tiny dog. In a third, a kitten knocks a fireman off a ladder. These misadventures earn their sufferers Mike’s, but none of them leave the store without more merciless teasing from Hank and Joel. The “Hard Days Deserve a Hard Lemonade” campaign, from agency VCCP, recognizes the 25th anniversary of the hard lemonade brand, owned by Mark Anthony Brands. The ads will run across social, OLV, CTV, OOH and linear this summer. “We imagined our brand gatekeepers, Hank and Joel, in a universally familiar place, a neighborhood convenience store, and cast them as judges of people’s hard days, “ Eimear Gorman, director, U.S development brands for Mark Anthony, said in an email. “For them, like us, rewarding hard-earned thirst is serious business.” More Creativity coverage from Ad Age: Sign up for our daily Creativity newsletter to see the best stories of the day.

Mike’s Hard Lemonade’s snarky shopkeepers decide if your day’s been hard enough to earn one

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