Truly enlists Keegan-Michael Key for seltzer supremacy

Ad dollars are starting to flow into the sizzling category

Published On
Aug 12, 2019

Editor's Pick

Forget Coors Light versus Bud Light. The most compelling alcohol brand battle this summer is Truly against White Claw, the two dominant brands in the sizzling-hot alcoholic seltzer category. Neither is owned by brewing behemoths Anheuser-Busch InBev or MillerCoors, which have struggled to capitalize on seltzer’s astronomical growth.

Truly, marketed by Sam Adams-maker The Boston Beer Co., is looking to build on its momentum with a major new campaign starring Keegan-Michael Key. Five 15-second ads go squarely after the beer, wine and spirits categories. In one ad, Key dumps a light beer into a plant before cracking open a Truly. “Find a new use for your old drink,” he says, before urging consumers to “drink what you truly want.” In another ad, he uses scotch to polish a chair.

Other spots show him pouring whiskey on a grill, cleaning a car’s tires with vodka and dumping a bottle of wine down the drain so he can use the bottle to hold a candle.

The campaign is by Johannes Leonardo, which was recently brought on to handle the brand.

“There is a real truth in our message,” says Boston Beer Co. Chief Marketing Officer Lesya Lysyj. “It is actually what people are saying and what they are doing; they are switching from their old drink.”

Read more about the campaign over at AdAge.com.

Credits

Date
Aug 12, 2019
Agency :
Johannes Leonardo
Client :
Truly

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