Birra Moretti and Stanley Tucci Flip the Beer Ad Script

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Lucky Generals’ latest ad for Italian beer brand Birra Moretti delights in deconstructing beer ad conventions. They’ve created a clever meta-commercial that still achieves close alignment between its star, actor Stanley Tucci, and the brand and its values.

The ad inverts expectations. All the typical elements of a premium beer ad are here – a beautiful landscape, an artfully arranged product, a celebrity brand ambassador and friends enjoying a social occasion. But they’re not all in the same place. The conceit of Birra Moretti’s ad is that Stanley Tucci is meant to be starring in it, and the set dressers are preparing the perfect beer shot for him, but he’s not shown up. Why not? Because he’s enjoying great food, great company and a Birra Moretti of his own, of course, and he’s sent a video message instead.

Of course everything is scripted, but even so splitting the ad between the artifice of a typical beer ad and Tucci’s more spontaneous and joyful vertical video creates a real contrast. It positions Tucci – and the brand – on the side of authenticity, socialising and cheerful chaos.

And by adopting the vertical video format that’s so embedded in the way young consumers communicate, it’s also putting the brand on the side of youth. And the Test Your Ad demographic results indicate that the ad is resonating especially well with a younger audience.

That’s not the only piece of good news for Birra Moretti in the results. Their ad scores a 4.3-Star Rating in a category where the average is 3.1-Stars. Beer and cider ads are an unusual case where the category norm is slightly above average for all ads but very few commercials really stand out. Most are just…OK. Birra Moretti aims higher and gets there, it’s in the top 10% of all UK beer and cider ads we’ve tested.

What makes it work isn’t just the clever set-up wrong-footing the viewer. It’s the natural bonhomie of Stanley Tucci himself, proving why his laid back good humour is such an asset for the brand. In a sector where premium Italian beers can sometimes act a little pretentious, Birra Moretti is all about quality, but in the context of good times and simple pleasures. Stanley Tucci and his performance in this ad aligns perfectly with that. It’s a great example of a celebrity brand ambassador being used creatively and fitting exactly with the image and mood the brand wants to own. This ad takes a big step in that direction.