Campaign Review: Heaps Normal and Club X’s blasts from the past
In Campaign Review, Mumbrella invites industry creatives and strategists to offer their views on recent ad campaigns. This week, we had a blast from the past, with retro-inspired spots from non-alc beer brand Heaps Normal and sexual wellness retailer Club X. Akcelo's partner (brand strategy), Simon McCrudden, and Thinkerbell's head creative tinker, Sean McNicholas shared their thoughts.
Brand: Heaps Normal
Campaign: ‘Just Say No to Water’
Agency: Heaps Normal
The verdict: Fun idea but needs a stronger execution.
Simon McCrudden, partner (brand strategy) at Akcelo, gave it a 7/10, saying:
What’s the world coming to? Heaps Normal is a non-alcoholic beer brand that’s created a really fun beer ad. Avoiding the usual cliches, it jumps head-first into parody, piss-take and irreverence. And for the most part it works.
By making the enemy ‘water’ rather than alcohol or regular beer, the brand shows understanding into how people are approaching drinking these days. The ad positions Heaps Normal as an alternative to not just ‘boring’ water, but all soft drinks. And it does a good job at showing that the brand is a step-up, not step-down, from ‘regular’ beer.
This parody style works well at targeting blokes of an, ahem, certain age, who remember the original 80s and 90s anti-drugs ads. The style is executed brilliantly IT also feels very of its time, and with the right balance of playing it straight and taking the piss.
Overall, it’s a fun approach that cuts through with a distinctive tone of voice. If I was being picky, I might argue that some of the anti-water gags feel a bit flat rather than sparkling, with the exception of the toilet gag. And I don’t know the awareness scores of Heaps Normal as a non-alcoholic brand out there in the real world, but if you didn’t know it was one, you could be mistaken for thinking this ad’s for just another craft beer. So maybe some better educational cues could sharpen the work a little.
That’s being nit-picky though. Overall, it’s enjoyable to watch and makes me thirsty.
Sean McNicholas, head creative tinker at Thinkerbell, gave it a 5/10, saying:
Consumer Sean says: Would I drink on a rowing machine?…Yeah, nah.
Tinker Sean says: Non-alc beer is a niche little category no more. As it grows, we see more ads. And I love the idea behind this one – think of Heaps Normal as a better version of water, rather than a worse version of full strength beer. It gives you the power to say no to boring water. About time water copped it.
So great line. And the timing for dry July is spot on, could have made more of this. But it’s slow going for me. Trim it to 30 – let the interesting language resonate. The grainy blast-from-the-past retro look and feel (although on brand for Donny) distracts from the message. I’d question whether a lot of the target audience (younger?) would remember the original ads, so liberty could have been taken with the execution to keep it retro but cleaner. Also, Donny is a true character, but he didn’t add to it from a celeb perspective, for me. What’s Nancy Reagan up to?
So a big cheers to the idea/platform. Everytime I’m having a water, I will consider saying no to water, and drinking a Heaps Normal instead. Talk about suggesting occasions. But not loving the execution first round.
Brand: Club X
Campaign: ‘Isn’t that right, Mum’
Agency: Kennedy Studio
The verdict: Doesn’t scream female empowerment like they were hoping.
Simon gave it a 5/10, saying:
Vibrators are everywhere aren’t they? You can’t move for them. Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop sells them, flower brand LVLY sells them, even Cotton On Body sells them. Whilst still essentially a private pursuit, they are now a part of normal everyday life for a lot of people. Which is great for those people, but more of a challenge for Club X – one of Australia’s oldest ‘adult’ retailers.
So how are they going to beat the competition off? The answer Club X landed on is an obvious but decent enough choice – to turn their heritage (and implied expertise) into a key brand strength. There’s no doubt that this would have been a stimulating brief to work on. The entire history of female pleasure is a good creative playground, and if you can’t have fun advertising vibrators, then you probably need to stop being so stiff and uptight.
On the positive side, unlike many heritage brand ads, this one works a bit harder with targeting. Guessing by the messaging and time period, this is targeting women 35+ whose Mums were adults back in the 80s, and I think the ad mostly does a good job at connecting with that audience by having fun with past tropes. That said, I’m really not sure about the nod to Mum at the end. I also don’t buy the female empowerment angle, which feels a bit ham-fisted, but at least it’s delivered with a wink and a nod.
The central challenge here is whether heritage and legacy is the right strategy, and what the correct execution would be based on this. The danger with this approach is that it reinforces the idea that the brand is out of touch.
Alternative strategies that can reinforce their expertise could be around the range of products, or showing understanding into the multi-dimensional and sensory aspects of sexual pleasure, both of which could help with maintaining relevance and could still be done with humour.
I’d also give the current logo the flick – it looks a bit seedy when it appears at the end, particularly when compared to the new competitive set that now exists.
Sean gave it a 3/10, saying:
Consumer Sean says: Oh interesting. That looks nice. I must get a new cake mixer…
Tinker Sean says: Club X try to position themselves as the next in a long line of sexual revolutionaries, via the story of the modern vibrator. But there’s no big idea, and the story leaves one somewhat unsatisfied (had to get one pun in. Sorry).
Yep, we should not forget those who ‘paved the way’ towards pleasure, but we are not given much to remember them by. No emotional depth, outrage, excitement. We only scratch the surface of the stories of ‘mum’, and the activists who boldly took on the norms and taboos…
…taboos that were not ‘broken’ in the 70’s, like suggested. Taboos around female masturbation (and pleasure as a whole) still run rampant. It’s not as simple as better vibrators, job done. This inference damages the need for champions like Club X.
To me, the blast-from-the-past-retro-housewife styling looks visually rich, but feels disconnected from the brand, chronology of the narrative, and ‘innovative’ message. Paired with the VO, music and super-subtle performances, the spot does not help smash taboos, pave ways, or as a colleague pointed out, ‘make anyone want to buy a vibrator’.
As told to Lauren McNamara.
If you’re a senior creative or strategist who would like to take part in a future Campaign Review, please email Lauren at lmcnamara@mumbrella.com.au.
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Lauren McNamara is a journalist at Mumbrella, covering the creative and PR beat. She joined in November 2022 as editorial assistant, after completing a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) at UTS.
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