“Discuss It Over A Bard’s” Ad Copy By Doug Adkins
This ad was my introduction to Bard’s Beer many years ago. Alas, I never developed a taste for beer, so I cannot speak to the quality of the product being marketed.
Further, I don’t know if these print ads have successfully promoted sales of Bard’s, which was originally created for folks who favor a brew on occasion but who are gluten-intolerant or who prefer a gluten-free diet, an explanation that helps decipher the otherwise mysterious pride Bard’s takes in being “America’s first gluten-free sorghum beer.” (Even given the original motivation for creating Bard’s, this boast, found at the bottom of the ad, raises a beer barrel of questions. Is there, for example, a second – or third or fourth or … – American gluten-free sorghum beer? Do most other countries have a glut of gluten-free sorghum beers? Is America in danger of falling catastrophically behind in the international gluten-free sorghum beer race? Is the the essence of Bard’s its sorghum base or its freedom from gluten or the combination of both? Are other beers, foreign or domestic, both gluten-free and sorghum-free? Are still other brews sorghum based but loaded with a gut-full of gluten? The mind reels.)
I do, however, recognize and appreciate clever, engaging copy that, abetted by a provocative title, requires no more than 150-200 word to make me smile and happy I took the time to read it.
The Creative Director/Copywriter for the advertising campaign and the CCO of Hunt Adkins, Minneapolis, the agency of record for Bard’s, Doug Adkins explained,
We felt we had to recognize the profound sense of loss that gluten-intolerant beer lovers faced, while still appealing to the enthusiasm that craft beer drinkers bring to the table. In the end we landed on a core insight: Beer as an inalienable right. No one should be denied the freedom to solve the world’s problems over a beer. It’s simply not possible to raise a glass of, say, prune juice, and pontificate on the best place to hole up during a zombie uprising.1
There are several other meritorious ads in this series, but “What’s your greatest weakness?” remains my favorite.
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