What It Takes to Change Ritson’s Pint: Cheers to Great Beer Advertising with Mark Ritson & Jon Evans on The Uncensored CMO

Beer and cider dominate a market worth around £23 billion in the UK and $117 billion in the US, projected to grow another 3% by 2028. It’s remarkable how such a humble crop has become so deeply ingrained in our pubs, homes, supermarkets, and social lives. Few know this better than the unfiltered beer of marketing himself, Marketing Week columnist Mark Ritson—a man known to enjoy a pint as much as any Brit. Fittingly, Mark recently joined Jon Evans, host of the Uncensored CMO podcast, to dive into the top-performing beer ads from System1’s Test Your Ad Premium ad database. Their setting? A classic British pub, of course, where they raise a glass to the craft behind these iconic ads. 

Despite its global popularity, beer and cider ads perform only modestly on System1’s long-term effectiveness measure, the Star Rating. Surprisingly, just 2% of ads in this expansive category achieve the cheers-worthy 5-Star Rating, with US ads faring slightly worse—less than 1% hit this benchmark. Short-term activation potential shows a slightly brighter picture, averaging a ‘good’ Spike Rating in both markets, yet these figures still fall far short of the category’s market power. 

It’s especially striking that a category so rich in elements like humanity, socialising, nostalgia, music, depth, and storytelling often succumbs to the “dull traps” identified by Jon Evans, Adam Morgan at EatBigFish, and Peter Field in their Cost of Dull report earlier this year. So, as Mark and Jon pour out their hearts—and some pints—over the best of beer advertising, let’s reflect on the key themes that emerged from our top performers. Most importantly, let’s find out whether some of these fantastic ads were enough to catch Mark’s eye and change his pint for good… 

Distinctive Assets: The Hops of a Great Brand 

Distinctive assets are often the unsung heroes of fantastic advertising and are features that are becoming increasingly rare within the beer and cider category. Few understand the importance of distinctive assets in building brand equity, mental availability, and advertising effectiveness better than expert Jenni Romaniuk. Similarly, Orlando Wood, author of Lemon and Look Out, highlights the emotional potency of long-lasting brand characters and ‘fluent devices’ in establishing meaningful connections with audiences. Distinctive assets are, quite literally, the foundational ingredients of a great beer brand—and a great beer ad. So, it’s fitting to kick off our thematic exploration here, right at the beginning. 

Brewed to perfection, one of the most distinctive brand assets in the category—the Budweiser Clydesdales—makes a splash in our top 10 best beer ads. Their 2024 Super Bowl spot rightfully earned its spot on our leaderboard and was aptly described by Mark as “if you asked AI to mash up all previous Bud ads, you’d get this and the horses.” This ad is a prime example of how to leverage historic, recognised assets, proving that such elements are here to stay—still driving consumer engagement and memorability since their introduction in 1933. That’s nearly a century of consistency! And we all know that consistency drives profitability, as System1’s Andrew Tindall recently revealed in Compound Creativity, with data from the IPA Effectiveness Databank. 

As Orlando points out in Lemon and Look out, animals naturally drive engagement and attention, boosting brand-building potential. But Budweiser has taken this a step further by investing in their iconic Clydesdale horses, effectively securing all the emotional equity that comes with them. Powerful stuff, huh? Let’s take a look at the ad: 

Star Rating: 4.2  

Liquid Gold: Moments of Bittersweet Brilliance 

Not all of our top performers are anchored in long-standing campaign ideas and heaps of history, yet they still earn their spot on the podium. The key to these moments of genius is recognising that a great idea doesn’t always—and, in fact, can’t always—be replicated, so it’s best to move on. Sometimes, this involves leveraging a celebrity or a cultural moment. In other instances, like Budweiser’s iconic “Wassup” campaign, those moments that embed themselves in the cultural consciousness simply can’t be recreated to the same degree. 

A prime example of this is Heineken’s winning campaign, a marvellous piece of film that capitalised on the release of No Time to Die. Despite some technical plot holes, as noted by Ritson, and the sheer impossibility that Bond would ever enjoy a pint of Heineken over an authentic local beer—being the connoisseur that he is—this campaign ticks all the right boxes at just the right time. It’s comedic, it leans into Daniel Craig’s self-deprecating humour, and it was incredibly relevant when it aired. Could Heineken rerun this campaign year after year? Probably not. That’s the bittersweet challenge with celebrity advertising—they don’t last forever, unlike owned distinctive assets. But does this take away from the spectacular piece of creativity that it is? Absolutely not! So, without further ado, here’s two quality minutes of bittersweet brilliance. 

Star Rating: 5.6  

Sipping Simplicity: Embracing the Basics of Brewing 

While a fancy craft beer can make for an exciting pint, sometimes you just crave a simple classic. It turns out, consumers feel the same way—many of our top beer ads stick to a single scene, a straightforward narrative, and familiar, everyday tropes. No extravagance, no frills—just pure, simple craft. 

Corona is a prime example of this simplicity, with their “Tiny Umbrellas” campaign featuring Snoop Dogg and Andy Samberg cracking the top ten and earning a strong 4.8 Star Rating. The ad is refreshingly straightforward, leaning into Corona’s signature brand codes—lime wedges on a golden beach—while pairing them with humorous, laid-back “beer talk” that’s relatable and fun. The beautiful scenery, natural chemistry between the characters, and easy humour create a blend of positive emotions for viewers. Some might argue that Corona has it easy with assets that naturally prime it as the perfect beach beer… but pulling off this level of simplicity is a bold move that most marketers would shy away from.  

So, as I stare out the window at the grey British sky, let’s cheers to hopes of sunshine and the feeling of sand between our toes! 

Star-Rating: 4.8 

Beer’s Law: There’s no Faulting Formula 

In the brewing world, Beer’s Law is applied as a quality control method—carefully balancing components like colour, clarity, and ingredients to maintain high quality and consistency, aiming for the perfect pint every time. In advertising, however, such formulas are often dismissed as “non-creative” or “paint-by-numbers.” Yet time and again, when we examine high-performing, commercially effective ads, a pattern—dare we say, a formula—emerges. 

In Lemon and Look out, Orlando Wood draws on the research of Iain McGilchrist, who explores the duality of the human brain. Applying these insights to advertising, Wood identifies key features that engage our “broad beam” attention, the right side of the brain responsible for how we interpret the world. These features—such as a clear sense of place, melody over rhythm, depth over abstraction, and characters with agency—are also closely linked to long-term commercial effectiveness.  

Michelob Ultra showcased the power of leaning into a winning formula with their latest Super Bowl ad featuring the world’s most famous sportsman, Lionel Messi. Set against a beautiful backdrop, Messi plays with agency and charisma to the tune of the Italian pop classic “Quando, Quando, Quando,” with clear branding woven throughout. The ad ticks all the right boxes and earned a strong 4.8-Star Rating for its commercial impact. Marketers may have mixed feelings about brands that embrace such a ‘formulaic’ approach, but one thing’s certain—Michelob Ultra will be the one laughing all the way to the bank. 

Another often-criticised “formulaic” approach is creative pre-testing, but our next top beer ad—and our blog, A Shot in the Dark: A World Without Pre-Testing – might just change your mind. Samuel Adams’ “Your Cousin” not only snagged bronze on the all-time beer podium but also claimed the title of top-performing Super Bowl ad of 2022, achieving an impressive 4.9-Star Rating. By testing and benchmarking the campaign with System1 before airing, the team at The Boston Beer Company gained the flexibility to optimise and refine the ad for maximum commercial impact, resulting in a 4.7% increase in Boston Lager sales to be precise.  

Star Rating: 4.9  

Raise a Glass to the Art of Authenticity 

As we near the end of this article, we still need to address whether any of these ads managed to change Ritson’s pint. The straightforward answer is no. As Mark and Jon approached silver on the beer leaderboard with Guinness’s post-COVID feel-good ad “All Together with Guinness,” no other beers stood a chance. Mark candidly stated, “If Guinness did disappear, I would notice, and I would be upset about it.” Such an authentic and honest remark! Perhaps this affection for the world’s most popular beer stems from that very quality: authenticity. 

Guinness consistently nails the basics—leveraging distinctive assets, embracing known ‘formulaic’ features of effectiveness, and maintaining simplicity. But what truly sets this brand apart is its remarkable knack for authenticity and a deep understanding of its customers. Their ad highlights everything audiences missed during lockdown: socialising, the simple joy of visiting the local pub, singing and dancing with strangers, and enjoying a draft pint of Guinness. By taking a modest, universally relatable truth and flipping it on its head, they reignited excitement and positivity in a post-lockdown world. 

Unlike many of the ads we’ve discussed from the top 10, this campaign doesn’t come off as big-budget or flashy—in fact, it feels quite the opposite. With off-key singing, a rather unglamorous pub, and a diverse cast of ‘real’ people instead of celebrities, it captures the dark, musty allure we all associate with a genuine local pub. This ad resonates by tapping into real memories, giving audiences a sense of what they’ve been craving for so long—something that is finally a reality! 

Star Rating: 5.0   

The Next Round’s on The House!  

This is just a sneak peek of what you can learn from Mark Ritson on the Uncensored CMO podcast. If you’re not quite ready to call it a day and shut down your laptop just yet, here’s another round of advertising effectiveness principles on us—so grab another pint and enjoy!

Create with Confidence 

Crafting the perfect ad is a lot like brewing the perfect pint—it’s all about balancing the right ingredients and maintaining consistency. If you aim to join the top 1% of your category like Samuel Adams, we’d love to hear from you!  

At System1, we partner with the world’s leading brands and advertisers to turn high risks into high rewards. Our mission is to empower you to make confident, informed decisions at every stage of the creative process. Build a strong foundation for your advertising and create with confidence. Reach out to a member of our team today!