Mike's Hard Lemonade kicks off summer with new campaign

CHICAGO — Mike's Hard Lemonade launched this month a multimillion-dollar campaign that the brand calls "a bold departure from traditional beer category advertising" and includes television, digital, mobile and social media outreach.

Created by the brand's new advertising agency, Grey New York, the campaign includes a series of television commercials featuring guys interacting at familiar drinking occasions, such as golf and fishing; but while each of the commercials start with the same scene, the spot then will reveal a rotation of four unexpected finales to reinforce that "when guys bring Mike's to the occasion, they never know how things will turn out," the brand said. The 15- and 30-second spots, which end with the tagline, "Mike's Hard Lemonade: Always Different, Always Refreshing," currently are airing on television outlets Comedy Central, E!, ESPN, F/X, NBA TV, SPIKE, TBS, Turner Sports, NBC Sports, Fuel and Speed, as well as digital channels, including Hulu, ABC, NBC and Discovery Network.

Additionally, the brand is partnering with LivingSocial in key brand markets to support the campaign. Mike's Hard Lemonade will serve as the exclusive adult beverage and sponsor for LivingSocial's Adventures 21+ Memorial Day Weekend Summer Camp in New York; Labor Day Weekend Summer Camps in Washington, D.C., and New York; and one-day Adventures in Seattle, Los Angeles and Chicago, featuring "fun in the sun" activities.

"We wanted to make good on our tagline of being 'always different and always refreshing' in this campaign," said Andy Horrow, chief marketing officer of Mike's Hard Lemonade. "By using multiple refreshing endings, we engage and entertain our target guy and celebrate Mike's differentness in a way that's as unexpected and unique as the brand itself."