In a land of beer worship, Canadian Club has done the unthinkable: releasing an integrated campaign that asks Australians if they are over beer.

Created by The Monkeys, ‘The Big Question’ carries on the brand’s marketing strategy, ‘Over Beer’, which enters its seventh year.

Challenging Australia’s beer drinking culture, the campaign and its alternative message sees Canadian Club challenge the perception of dark spirits and gives consumers an opportunity to question the often ‘sleep drinking’ default choice made with beer.

The Monkeys creative director Scott Dettrick said the challenge was to take on beer in Australia.

“We drink it, our dads drink it, and their dads drank it, too. It’s in our cultural DNA,” he said.

“However, Australia is changing and our drink choices are too.

“The campaign shows that beer isn’t everything that it’s cracked up to be – it has been bloating our bellies and making our breath bad for far too long.”

Upon reading the campaign script, film director Nick Kelly of The Sweet Shop said the range of characters excited him.

“A lot of us are in there somewhere,” he said. “I love how the main character pokes a little hole in the beer myth and accidentally kicks open the floodgates for everyone else.”

Beam Suntory marketing manager Tiffany Madsen said: “We know beer is synonymous with Australian culture. However, Canadian Club’s success shows there is something in challenging the conventional wisdom of beer.

“When we’re given permission to not choose beer, it’s strangely liberating. We’re not suggesting Australians stop drinking beer, but rather reconsider their love affair with the liquid.”

Live from September, the campaign is set to run across broadcast, cinema, print and outdoor.

CREDITS

Client: Beam Suntory

Marketing director: Trent Chapman

Marketing manager: Tiffany Madsen

Brand manager: Kristy Rathborne

Assistant brand manager: Michaela Lloyd Jones

Creative: The Monkeys

Founder and chief creative officer: Scott Nowell

Creative director: Scott Dettrick

Senior copywriter: Andrew Fraser

Managing director: Matt Michael

Group content director: Humphrey Taylor

Content director: Sam Wallace

Content manager: Bec Barnier

Head of production: Thea Carone

Senior producer: Jade Rodriguez

Head of planning: Michael Hogg

Strategic planner: Laura McRae

Production: The Sweet Shop

Director: Nick Kelly

Executive producers: Edward Pontifex and Loren Bradley

DoP: Stefan Duscio

Producer: Alice Grant

Managing director: Wilf Sweetland

Post-production: The Editors

Editor: Stuart Morley

Music: SongZu