Budweiser Celebrates Jets' Return To Winnipeg With Special Edition "Fan Brew"

Budweiser Canada and ad agency Anomoly have "harnessed Canadian pride" to deliver a new marketing initiative "connected to the Winnipeg Jets," according to Tim Nudd of ADWEEK. To celebrate the team's return to the city, Budweiser "filled three sealed vessels with water collected from different iconic Winnipeg locations and put them on display at the Jets' first home game -- where fans blessed them as they walked past." Some of the water was then "poured on to the ice, but the rest was taken to Bud's Edmonton brewery, where it was used to make a limited-edition brew 'celebrating the strong spirit and hopes of the entire city of Winnipeg.'" The whole process is outlined in a four-minute video, complete with the "requisite misty eyes toward the end." Anomaly has "tapped into the uncomplicated, heartfelt emotions of Canadian sports fans not just by filming a treacly commercial but by embedding itself in the community and making real-life gestures" (ADWEEK.com, 3/5). YAHOO's Nadine Bells noted the beer is "called the Jets Fan Brew." Fans "raised pints Thursday -- one of the province's largest-ever simultaneous toasts -- after the second period of the Jets' game against the Florida Panthers." The beer is now available "in MLCC stores and at participating Manitoba bars." Only "24,000 two-fours of the brew was made, each packaged with a numbered certificate of authenticity." Bells noted they will "likely sell out within two weeks" (CA.NEWS.YAHOO.com, 3/4).