Refreshingly Irish

Rockshore, the Diageo-owned Irish lager and cider brand, has today revealed a new brand platform and multichannel campaign, ‘Refreshingly Irish’, which celebrates the unique playful Irish banter that happens between true friends. The push was developed in partnership with M&C Saatchi London.

Diageo tasked M&C Saatchi with developing a bold, distinctive, fun new creative platform for Rockshore, which would connect product, brand, cultural and consumer truths, have longevity, and work through-the-line.

To engage with Irish lager drinkers of all ages, M&C Saatchi London landed on the insight that the seemingly brutal banter Irish people are known for is actually a way of them showing affection.

Recognising that Irish people show their love for their friends by making fun of each other, the humorous new campaign sees Rockshore celebrate the playful banter specific to real Irish friendship by subverting traditional methods of communicating love and affection in a “Refreshingly Irish” way.

A 30-second TV spot, directed by Jeffrey Max (Fatal Farm) at Agile Films, is a pastiche of classic love song videos. Featuring “As Long As You Love Me” by Backstreet Boys, and starring protagonist and brand character Rocko, the ad subverts the song’s lyrics, replacing them with banter between friends.

A series of out-of-home executions features a number of different headlines celebrating the way in which real friends make fun of each other. This is supported by video-on-demand, social and audio.