This weekend, you would have either been drowning your sorrows at the prospect of the UK going it alone, or raising a toast to the exciting future that may or may not be coming to us as a nation. Regardless of your allegiance, hopefully, your drink of choice was a Guinness.
Brexit came to something of a crescendo on 31st January as the UK finally prepared to leave the EU. Ironically, that day neatly coincided with the start of one of the most unifying exports that Europe has ever produced: the Guinness Six Nations. It is a championship that is fuelled by fierce rivalries among the home nations, along with France and Italy; but loved for the enduring respect it establishes between fans and players.
Our first ever campaign film, ‘A Love Letter to the Guinness Six Nations’, highlighted the power of sport to bring people together, no matter which nation they support. Voiced-over by Irish actor Andrew Scott (the hot priest in Fleabag), the film delivered an ode to the camaraderie at the heart of the Championship, and everything it represents, to bring the campaign’s core message ‘Come as Rivals, Leave as Friends’ to life.
It kicked off what is going to be an action-packed six-week social campaign for the Championship, aimed at taking Guinness and the Six Nations Championship beyond the minds of hardcore rugby fans, and into the hearts of a wider audience.
For every Six Nations game week, we’ll be delivering Guinness Gameday Live, a series of live broadcasts covering both women’s and men’s games, from different locations across the UK. Fronted by England Rugby World Cup winner Will Greenwood and Irish TV chef Clodagh McKenna, the Twitter live broadcasts will bring together Guinness, rugby and food, celebrating the rugby occasion.
Supporting Guinness Gameday Live, we’ll have special-edition food dishes inspired by each of the six nations competing. The food and drink content will aim to show that along with sport, nothing has the power to bring people together over enemy lines than a good dish of grub.
Elsewhere, we’ll be launching a Guinness augmented reality photo booth in London’s Flat Iron Square, where fans will have the opportunity to put their differences aside and have their picture taken with a rival fan and all of the Six Nations captains.
There has been plenty of blood, sweat and tears that has gone into bringing such an exciting and extensive campaign to life. In building from our 2019 Guinness Six Nations work celebrating friendship and camaraderie, the Guinness team has created something for the Championship’s 20th edition to be truly proud of, bang in the sweet spot of sport and culture.
Whatever your persuasion, over the next few weeks our Guinness Six Nations campaign will show that there’s more to life than Brexit. Honestly. So just sit back and enjoy a feast of rugby with a pint of the black stuff and all will seem well with the world.
For more on the project, check out the full write up in Campaign magazine.
