Castle Lite Embraces Humour To Show Why Cold Draught Beer Should Never Be Left Behind

Having said that, though, I do think the best way to enjoy a Castle Lite is in draught form and only in a state which could be described as “shockingly cold.”

Cold, clever and on brand

That’s why I could identify with the latest bit of fluffy humour (could we call it “lite”?) done by Retroviral for Castle Lite. It exactly hits the spot of how I think a good draught beer should be enjoyed… and why very few people walk away from that sort of enjoyment and leave a half-finished glass of beer in the pub or restaurant.

The premise is that award-winning photographer Ilan Godfrey of New York Times and Washington Post fame, goes out to conduct an “investigation” into why there are so many abandoned draught beers at various establishments.

He goes through a rigorous research programme, including picking up tips from friendly barkeeps he meets on the way.

As he blasts through an alleged 6,000 frames as part of his probe – of sad-looking glasses containing sad-looking beer all over the place – he realises, thanks to the info provided by those working in these places, that the beers have to be cold when served. If not, the proper taste won’t be liberated… and ergo, no enjoyment.

That then leads to the punchline, which is an explanation of why you never see abandoned Castle Lite Draught beers. That’s because they’re served ice-cold.

Case closed – or, as Retroviral has it, cold case closed.

It’s a little bit of fun, but at the same time contains the “OK, try me” message which might tempt people to order a Castle Lite Draught.

Even as a Windhoek fan, I must admit it’s pretty good…

At the same time, there is quite a bit of obvious tongue-in-cheek about the whole thing, which I like, not only because it shows Retroviral once again zigging when other agencies are zagging but it also shows Castle Lite is a brand mature enough and confident enough that it can allow the agency to play around and have fun.

And, surely, sipping an ice-cold beer is all about fun?

Orchids to Castle Lite and retroviral.

A costly case of not checking twice

The best President in the history of the world, Donald J Trump, has a bee in his bonnet about fake news, claiming the MSM (Main Stream Media) are littered with it.

Sadly, they are just they place you’d find the least bullshit, Donny. Have a look at social media, where Iran is firing all sorts of AI fakery along with its very unfake missiles in the real world.

With all of the digital tools we have available today, the temptation for any marketer is to just throw anything at a project – and hope it sticks.

But when you are an important brand with supposed immense gravitas, you shouldn’t leave your marketing, even on social media, to clowns.

That’s clearly what happened with a rah-rah digital poster put out by GCIS (Government Communication and Information Service) on behalf of the “JPCS Cluster”.

Yep, they love their acronyms in our civil service, don’t they? JPCS stands for Justice, Crime Prevention and Security cluster, which includes Police, Justice, Home Affairs, Defence, and State Security.

What a pity that there were three egregious – and hilarious – errors in what should have been a straightforward appeal to patriotism.

Put out to detail how the government generously allocated an “extra” R2.7bn to defence, it included a stock-shot image of an F-15 fighter jet.4

Note to GCIS: I know we don’t have more than one operational jet in the SA Air Force (thanks to your government starving it of funding for decades), but we don’t have F-15s at all. Donald J Trump and the Israelis have plenty of them, though.

Nor is the word we use – in standard, not “Murican” English – defense.

It is defence.

It is worrying that someone in charge approved this rubbish and no, that excuse that time was of the essence won’t do.

But the bow on the show was the people who put the graphic together – to portray the defence force, mind you – used an image of a person in uniform… from the National Traffic Police.

So, GCIS, you get an Onion because you are a communication – and therefore, marketing – arm of the government. And any form of communication or marketing rubbish will always get an Onion from me.

But there’s a lesson there for all brands – check, check and double check. And, if in any doubt, get some who knows what they’re looking at.