Queensland Maroons Beer Sponsor XXXX Tackles State Of Origin Thrills & Spills In New Campaign

Australian brewer Lion leveraged its XXXX brand rights as the official beer of the Queensland Maroons rugby league team, with a new ‘Sometimes… It’s OK To Spill A Bit’ campaign launched ahead of the NRL 2021 State Of Origin series which celebrates the thrills and spills on and off the field.

Launched in late May, the TV and online campaign – which was developed in harness with agency Host/Havas – encourages viewers/supporters to get behind the Mighty Maroons and gives them permission to do the unthinkable on any other day of the year – spilling their XXXX.

As the creative copy states: “When you spill your XXXX, you feel every drop. But when it comes to Origin, well… you can’t have the thrills without spills. So this Series, we don’t mind if you spill a bit of XXXX supporting the Queensland Maroons”.

“Our proud partnership with the mighty Maroons over the last 31 years has delivered countless opportunities for Queenslanders to come together and celebrate with a XXXX in hand,” commented Lion Marketing Manager Chris Allan at the campaign launch. “This year we worked with Host/Havas to acknowledge that while we don’t like to see any XXXX wasted, this is one time in the year when, it’s not only ok to spill the sacred drop, it’s celebrated.”

Host/Havas ECD Jon Austin explained: “XXXX hasn’t just been in the hands of fans during every exciting Origin moment. It’s been on their couches, carpets and clothing too, and this year we wanted to celebrate the fandom that led to those spills. We had an absolute blast working on this one with our partners at Lion. It was an idea we all immediately loved, and it’s been fantastic watching it come to life.”

The campaign was created for brewer Lion by a team at creative agency Host/Havas, the production company Eight Productions with Director Jay Topping and music by Song Zu.

Comment:

This campaign goes head-to-head with fellow Lion-owned brand and New South Wales Rugby League partner Toohey’s ‘Blue Rinse’ activation backing the Blues: a campaign also created by Host/Havas.