Guinness 0.0 Rocks Out, '80s Arena-Style, for St. Patrick's Day

Frosty pints of zero-alcohol Guinness 0.0 belt out an arena rock classic in the brewer’s St. Patrick’s Day spot from AMV BBDO London.

Those foamy faces are either cute as heck or horrifyingly hallucinogenic, depending on your point of view (or level of sobriety).

OMG, they could drink you!

The song is Jim Steinman’s “Holding Out for a Hero,” made famous by Bonnie Tyler almost 40 years ago. Steinman’s bombastic tracks make any ad better, regardless of what’s being hyped. But this particular tune fits especially well, with the theme-line “Holding Out for a Zero” closing the ad.

Thankfully, they didn’t change the words and record a new version of the song. That would’ve been silly. Well, sillier than what’s actually on screen, anyway.

“This has been a dream brief to work on, to find an approach to the moderation message in a way only Guinness could,” says agency managing partner Nick Andrew.

The Diageo-owned brewer will make 50,000 free pints of Guinness 0.0 available across Ireland over the holiday weekend as part of what brand director Alan McAleenan calls, “our largest ever responsible drinking campaign.”

CREDITS

Client: Diageo
Brand: Guinness
Client execs: Alan McAleenan, Anna Sablovscaia and Anne Zahan

Creative Agency: AMV BBDO
CCO: Nicholas Hulley and Nadja Lossgott
Creative Director: Nicholas Hulley, Nadja Lossgott and Andre Sallowicz
Creative Team: Scott Kelly, Alexandra Sandford-Smith, Colin Jones, Phil Martin, Nellie Santee and Sergio Takahata
Agency Planning Team: Joe Smith
Agency Account Team: Nick Andrew, Elana Murphy and Harry Frohlich
Agency Producer: Nick Godden, Kieran O’Malley and Sophie Alliot

Media Agency: PHD

Production Company: Red Studios
Director: Scott Kelly
Production Co. Producer: Nick Godden, Stan Stanworth
Edit: Sam Allen
Post-production Company: Daydreamervfx
Sound studio: sounds good
Photography Production Company: Yoke Production c/o Patrick Daly 
Photographer: Greg White c/o Picture Club
Post-Production: One White Chair c/o Karl Hugill
PR agency: WHPR