To honour Canada Day 2014 (1 July) Molson Canadian built and placed beer fridges across the country that only opened when a consumer sang the national anthem ‘O Canada’.
The beer fridge helps citizens celebrate their national day by opening its door and offering free chilled beer to any patriot who serenades it with the national anthem.
The initiative is promoted through a commercial which opens with curious Canadians circling around the fridge, reading its single instruction – ‘Sing O Canada To Open Fridge’ – and then shows people across the nation belting out the song.
Only those able to sing the anthem with a modicum of skill and the right words succeeded in opening the fridge and drinking its free beer.
The online spot shows assorted Canadians singing the rousing ‘O Canada with varying degrees of success – from the tuneless to the in-tune and from hilarious karaoke to forgotten lyrics and poor timing.
The stunt was developed in tandem with agency Rethink and the campaign also includes a ‘how we made the beer fridge’ behind-the-scenes style video.
This isn’t the first hi-tech Molson beer fridge. This ‘anthem’ campaign follows the beer fridge’s 2013 global tour which saw it unlock and open only for those with Canadian passports on Canada Day.
From June last year, Molson Canadian’s #IAmCanadian hi-tech beer fridge travelled through Europe’s capital cities opening ony for those able to show a Canadian passport.
This campaign also included a behind-the-scenes film on how the fridge was built.
Comment
Whilst Molson Canadian doesn’t specifically sponsor Canada Day or have official rights relating to the country’s national day, we feel the ideas and strategy behind the campaign provide relevant food for thought for sponsors seeking inspiration on how to activate around an event or a property.
It’s a powerful, emotional, fun and useful project that connects to a specific set of consumers through their deep-seated passions and rewards them for being part of a group.
It is an approach that could be applied to fans of teams around the world.
Links
Molson Canadian Website
Molson Canadian Twitter
https://twitter.com/Molson_Canadian
#IAMCANADIAN
Molson Canadian Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/MolsonCanadian
Molson Canadian Instagram
