Deschutes Brewery New 2019 Advertising Campaign Pushes Boundaries of Beer and Cannabis
Late last week when entering the extended Memorial Day Weekend, Adweek featured the news on the forthcoming “It Comes With The Territory” advertising campaign from Deschutes Brewery.
This new advertising campaign has been put together by Öpinionated, a nearly two-year old ad agency based in Portland, that will push the boundaries of the intersection between beer and marijuana. Deschutes is the largest brewery to date to fully embrace the marijuana culture. Lagunitas Brewing had been the largest U.S. brewer to date to market the connection.
Late last year Öpinionated became the agency of record for Bend based Deschutes Brewery and but these three campaigns together. This new ad agency is led by former Wieden+Kennedy Global Executive Creator Director Mark Fitzloff. He and his team have put together three new advertisements for Deschutes Brewery under the “It Comes With The Territory” advertising campaign.
This is the first advertising to come out from Deschutes Brewery since Neal Stewart joined the company as Vice President of Marketing last month. From what we have seen is that there are three new video advertisements, one the focuses on Deschutes long history in the Pacific Northwest and two that focus on the recreational marijuana industry.
These two videos have taglines of “It’s the super dank refreshment when you’re not toking the refer” and “Deschutes is the beer of choice in the land of recreational cannabis”. Definitely spots that will bring a lot of attention to the brewery and how it adapts to the competition of legal week.
Stewart commented to Craft Business Daily on an article that ran on Friday that the cannabis ads will be all digital and run across Oregon and Washington, two states where recreational cannabis is legal.
The finished, polished spot dives into Deschutes Brewery’s rich history in the Pacific Northwest set to the music of legendary Portland band, The Kingsmen’s “Louie Louie”. This 30 second clip is one that will appeal to a broad demographic with lots of flashing imagery from Oregon and Washington, the region where Deschutes got its start over 30 years ago.
The other two advertisement are the spots that truly push the boundaries of beer and recreational cannabis. In the two ads, a doppelganger of Martha Stewart is the spokesperson and drops many slang terms for cannabis as she compares the crossover to beer brewed by Deschutes.
It’s this character with her slightly bloodshot eyes that drops the “It’s the super dank refreshment when you’re not toking the refer” and “Deschutes is the beer of choice in the land of recreational cannabis” taglines.
We are curious to see how much exposure these final two advertisements will receive once the brewery begins to get the two out to the masses in Oregon and Washington.
About The Author
DJ
D.J. is a Portland, Oregon based writer that spent his formative years in the Midwest. With over 25 years under his belt of drinking beer at festivals across America and the world, he has developed a strong appreciation and understanding of craft beer and the industry that surrounds it. He can be found in any of the great breweries or beer bars that make Portland the best beer city in the world. His writing can also be found in the archives of Northwest Brewing News and can be followed on Twitter and Instagram at @hopapalooza.
Well, as someone who loves good beer, and has never taken to tokin’, I find this pretty damning to their brand.
Beer is a worthy enough product to try and make a great one. This just seems like an official announcement they’ve just stopped trying, instead grasping onto another, faster horse.
The first commercial was good. But the second one makes us all sound like a bunch of stoners. And I certainly wouldn’t want my kids watching that commercial.
A sad day for one of my favorite “old school” brewers. You’re better than this.
Actually, it’s very clear that they’re not.
Awesome for the something crowd.
…but detrimental to other thing folks.
I think this is absolutely GENIUS.
How low that bar has dropped.