The Premier League & Guinness launch wholesome campaign

Dya know what?

I love football. I don't know much about it, but I love the vibe. And the aesthetic. It makes me feel so...so... 90s-Spice-Girl-esque.

I guess I just find it cool.

And you know what else I find cool?

Guinness.

So, although this is Guinness's first global footy partnership, I feel like it should've happened aaaages ago.

Because these two things—the Premier League and Guinness—go together in my head. They're a match made in heaven <3.

I picture a sweaty stout in a warm, dark pub...

The game blasting from multiple televisions...

Men in soccer t-shirts yelling at each other and the figures on the screen...

Arsenal tats...

It almost makes me want to move to the UK.

But Guinness has launched the partnership in a much more wholesome-seeming way.

Because they're focusing on how different communities enjoy their footy, and their beer, rather than just... pushing the act of getting drunk in a heady pub.

And they're doing this through four high-production video advertisements. Each set in a different country.

As well as using promotional material, global outdoor advertising, and a sponsorship of the Goal of the Month award (a Premier League thing), they're also promoting their 0% beer, naming themselves as the ‘Responsible Drinking Partner.’

Oh, and their catchphrase is ‘Lovely Game for a Guinness'. Awww.

But so far, only one of the video advertisements is available to view.

It's called 'Eriskay Island' and set in the Scottish island of, you guessed it, Eriskay.

And it feels so outdoorsy and healthy. Picture players running around on a green, sunny pitch. Local fishermen hooking the footy ball out of the cold sea. Laughing side-line spectators. Then everyone piling into the pub and drinking 0.0% Guinness.

It does a great job of promoting the feel-good footy feeling, while showing us a unique island community made up of only 104 people.

I can only hope the next video, set in Seoul, will give me the same warm-fuzzies, and make me want to run around outside.

What is it about their approach that's so appealing?

Well, to me, it's that they're focusing on how footy (and beer) connects people and communities.

The whole campaign feels so downright sweet and endorphin-y. Just watching the Eriskay video makes me want to roll around in grass, hang out with my mates and (responsibly) sink a beer.

It feels like they've struck the perfect balance between well-being and fun, that focuses more on the enjoyment of the game than competition or binge drinking.

Soooo what can we take from this?

Basically, people like feeling good.

Showing exercise and good vibes, and matching this with your product... it's a great way to sell something.

Seems simple, right? And it kind of is.

It makes me think of that 'Share a Coke this Summer' commercial... It's just all these people doing nice things outside in summer... connecting over cold Coca-cola. Yano?

If you tie it your product in with feeling good, whether that be exercising, being around loved ones or being outside in the summertime... People are going to want to recreate that feeling for themselves. And they'll look to do that, by pursuing what you're putting forward.

Just look at the feeling Guinness is creating with this campaign.

They're not pushing forward players, or the being-at-the-game feeling. Rather, they want you to think about the community that surrounds your soccer playing and watching. And to sink into this with a yummy stout.

Sounds good to me!

-Maggie, Copywriter