Foster’s to end Brad and Dan ads in move away from ‘laddish’ campaigns
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Version 0 of 1. Foster’s has called time on its long-running ad campaign featuring Aussie mates Brad and Dan, as the beer brand looks to move away the typically laddish style of marketing that has been accused of casual sexism. The final TV ad in the “Good Call” series, which features Brad and Dan giving blokey advice to British men, will air on Channel 4 just before Alan Carr: Chatty Man which airs at 10pm. The scrapping of the TV ad campaign, which has been an extremely successful sales driver since launching in 2010, comes as the chief of Foster’s parent company has said it is time for to move on from themes that might be viewed as “dismissive” or “insulting” to women. “Peroni has moved away from the lager lout, college frat impact,” said Alan Clark, head of SABMiller. “Beer now has associations with fashion, art and design. The world has moved on from lads telling jokes on a Saturday and high-volume consumption. Beer is now drunk by women and men together.” In the final 40-second TV ad the duo are seen packing up their beach hut, the “office” from which they have worked as agony uncles to British men, to marry their frequently bikini-clad girlfriends Dawn and Matilda. “Well, Dawn and Matilda aren’t going to marry themselves.” “Brad and Dan have been hugely successful for Foster’s since they first appeared on our screens in 2010,” said Ifeoma Dozie, brand director at Heineken. “While we’re sad to wave ‘hoo roo’ to them for now, we’re excited for the next adventure for the Foster’s brand. Dozie said the decision to scrap the ad campaign was taken at the end of last year and had nothing to do with Clark’s comments. She said SABMiller, which acquired Foster’s in 2011, doesn’t have any control over the direction of the advertising in Europe where Heineken controls the rights to the beer. The new ad campaign, which will be unveiled in the coming months, will continue to use the Australian theme and comedy elements and primarily focus on male beer drinkers. “It is part of the DNA of the brand,” said Dozie. “Australia and comedy are at the heart of the brand and will always remain.” Dozie said that despite the success of the campaign – it won the highly-coveted IPA Effectiveness award for advertising last year – Foster’s target market had moved away from the “no worries” message offered by Brad and Dan’s agony uncles phone-line theme. “We want to stay fresh, dynamic and relevant,” she said. “‘No worries’ was a lean-back approach, we are looking [now] for a more lean-forward approach. [The target drinker] is now leaning more into life, not in a state of looking for solutions constantly, they want to get involved and give life a ‘red hot crack’. It is the Australian spirit about ingenuity, it is more about the experiences once you have the right kind of attitude and approach, as opposed to saying ‘no worries’.” The final TV ad, created by ad agency adam&eveDDB, will run for four weeks across a range of channels. Foster’s is hosting a one-month-long charity auction of Brad and Dan’s favourite items, including their sofa and the famous “paddle of rebuke”. |