White beer reveals its dark side

Big arthouse push for Hoegaarden

INTERBREW UK is spending £3 million on a support package for its Hoegaarden white beer – the most ever put behind a speciality beer brand, the company claims. The highlight of the campaign will be a quirky advert to be shown in art-house cinemas throughout the UK.

The one-minute ad focuses on the lives of people who live in the Belgian town where Hoegaarden is brewed. Set to a "Pulp Fiction"-style soundtrack and decribed as "dark" and "edgy," the ad features the strapline "Hoegaarden. Home of the famous beer and not much else."

Richard Evans, marketing director of Interbrew UK, says he hopes the new ad will reinforce the idea of Hoegaarden as a brand with real heritage and engage the target audience of media-savvy 25 to 35-yearolds.  "The campaign will reward and strengthen the brand commitment among existing drinkers as well as intriguing potential drinkers to discover the brand themselves," he explains.