Brand Experience and Activation > Brand Experience & Activation: Sectors
HEIMAT\TBWA, Berlin / MUSCHICRAFT BEER COMPANY / 2024
Overview
Credits
Why is this work relevant for Brand Experience & Activation?
The Most Illegal Beer let people experience the global realities of gender injustice in a simple and provocative beer, to activate broad conversations engaging all genders, including the group who are usually more indifferent to women’s rights topics – men. By sparking first-time extensive discussions about the outdated, sexist laws still existing worldwide, this activation generated greater momentum for faster progress toward gender equality.
This project was also most people’s first experience of the feminist beer brand, Muschicraft. From this campaign on, everyone remembered and embraced Muschicraft as the provocative rebel against the “male standard” in this patriarchal world.
Please provide any cultural context that would help the Jury understand any cultural, national or regional nuances applicable to this work.
Muschicraft, which translates as “Pussy Power”, is a feminist beer brand founded to provoke the “male standard” in the beer world. That’s why The Most Illegal Beer was created for it. It’s a step further for the brand to challenge the other “male standards” prevailing in our societies around the world – the laws that were written by men but are still restricting women’s freedoms nowadays.
Since 2010, World Bank has been publishing the “Women, Business and The Law” report every 1-2 years. Part of the report is to review the unequal laws around the world. Over a decade have passed. Almost no common people have been made aware of such widely existing gender injustices, and many of these laws remain unchanged. To drive faster progress, we need to raise wide public awareness and create greater momentum for change. The Most Illegal Beer was born for this mission.
The unequal laws broken by The Most Illegal Beer were primarily based on the “Women, Business and The Law” report 2023. The 2024 report was released only after our project.
Background
In over 70 countries worldwide, laws still exist which prohibit women from doing things that men are allowed to do -- laws that restrict women’s choice of jobs and dictate how they should look and behave. It’s a harsh reminder of the reality of gender inequality nowadays: Women are still denied the same professional and personal freedoms as men globally.
The Most Illegal Beer was created with the mission to, for the first time ever, spotlight these outdated, sexist laws long hidden in the legal systems around the world, and drive faster progress toward gender equality.
With this intriguing, provocative beer, the project intended to let people really experience global gender injustices in an approachable way, thus activating a dialogue engaging all genders, even the group who are usually more indifferent to gender equality topics -- men. The wide-spread discussions were used to generate greater momentum for change.
Describe the creative idea
We hijacked the holy water of manhood as the perfect conversation opener, and activated everyone to experience global gender injustices in a beer – including men.
The Most Illegal Beer breaks the laws from over 50 countries worldwide – simply because it’s made by women.
Women from around the world gathered to create this beer, doing the things that are forbidden for them but allowed for men. They worked in brewery with yeast, produced alcohol, cleaned and repaired running machinery, pulled night shifts, used hand trucks, lifted heavy beers, drove trucks, wore make-up and tight, low-cut jeans, drank beer in bars, and more! The entire process intentionally violates the sexist laws from their countries of origin, including Russia, Uruguay, Italy, Sri Lanka, Madagascar, and the USA.
Sales of the beer raised money for Women For Women International, an organisation that fights for global gender equality.
Describe the strategy
Gender equality is always presumed to be only talked about by females. However, to trigger real changes, we need to mobilize all genders to engage in this important discussion, even those who are usually more indifferent to women’s rights topics -- men.
Keeping this special target audience also in mind, we created The Most Illegal Beer. Our approach was to let people experience the global realities of gender injustice in a simple, provocative beer. Not only because beer is an easy conversation opener for everyone, but also because beer is seen as the holy water of manhood and is a topic of passion in male talks. With this intriguing product, we successfully made a big, complicated topic easily accessible to everyone.
On the other hand, to really shake the long male-dominated beer world, we took a radical approach, making our product a loud statement against the ingrained system.
Describe the execution
The beer was launched on International Women’s Day, kicked off with an online film showing how the beer was made, an extensive, rebellious OOH campaign, and influencer activations.
We sold the beer in a long list of bars and stores, as well as online – which could also deliver abroad. Even competitor brands like BrewDog and BRLO volunteered to sell our beer.
While enjoying the sip, people could read its story from the beer label. And at all Points Of Sale, the experience of our message was amplified with designed posters, beer coasters, and stickers.
All campaign assets, including the beer label, drove people to the project’s website, to order the beer and explore more about all the unequal laws it challenges.
We also sent special beer packs to the ministers of justice in countries with laws broken by the beer, directly calling on them to change these laws.
List the results
The Most Illegal Beer gave Muschicraft 300% faster sales growth than category average. After a quick sold-out, a second batch is already brewed.
Online conversations about these unequal laws have increased by 290%. Everyone was activated. Men were engaged in the gender equality talk more than ever. They got mobilized to rethink the reality of gender inequality, and even to demand change.
The project so far has garnered over 1.68B reach worldwide and generated over 3.4M Euro earned media, with nearly 99% positive impressions. It amassed coverage and sparked discussions even in countries with laws broken by the beer, like Russia, Italy, the USA, China, Uruguay, etc.
Brand mentions of Muschicraft raised 4000% during the campaign, while its social engagement went up by 1571%. With this project, we put this feminist beer brand firmly onto the map of the male-dominated beer world, and in people’s minds too.
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