Australia will never have a white Christmas. No sleigh bells, no snowmen, no open fires (at least not the ones in fireplaces. Australia’s bushland is currently on fire). But Australia has Christmas backyard cricket. Always has, always will. That cricket has a special rule, one hand one bounce, because in the unwritten code of backyard cricket, it is always played with a beer in your hand.

Host/Havas is celebrating XXXX Gold’s long history with Australian cricket and the Aussie summer. In its campaign, the audience is taken back in time to relive the (perhaps real, perhaps entirely fictional) moment the “one hand one bounce” rule was invented. It champions a bloke from Queensland who, against all odds, found a way to keep hold of that refreshing, ice cold XXXX Gold.

Amy Darvill, brand director for mainstream, Lion, noted, “With XXXX Gold playing such an important role over the summer beer season for Lion and our retail customers, it was important that we drove awareness of our classic cricket packaging and the surrounding retail campaign. Rather than play a straight bat with a simple retail ad, we worked with the Host/Havas team to bring to life a fun idea that taps into the uniquely Australian pastime of backyard cricket.”

Matt Ennis, creative director, Host/Havas, added, “As a brand that has always championed Aussie ingenuity, it seemed right that XXXX Gold lay claim to one of the best examples of it.”

The campaign includes retro can packaging as well as a Mr Fourex integration with the Channel 7 broadcast. The content is running online, in-stadium, on XXXX social accounts and in OOH.

Credits:

Creative Agency: Host/Havas
Executive Creative Director: Jon Austin
Creative Director: Matt Ennis
Art Director: Shaun Thomson
Copywriter: Adam Smith
Production Director: Alistair Ferrier
Senior Broadcast Producer: Stephanie Cameron
Managing Partner: Ant Moore
Account Director: Rachel Robinson
Account Manager: Jordan Van Der Heide
Chief Strategy Officer: Olly Taylor
Senior Planner: Phil Pickering

Production Company: AIRBAG
Director: Ariel Martin
Executive Producer: Alex Tizzard
Producer: Megan Ayers
DOP: Aaron McLisky
Edit: Charles Ivory @ AIRBAG
Grade: Ben Eagleton
Online: Heather Galvin @ AIRBAG
Sound: Song Zu

Stills Production Company: FLIPP
Photographer: Stuart Miller
Senior Producer: Anastasia Nielsen
Agency Producers: Darren Gibson & Emma Power

Client: Lion 
Brand Director: Amy Darvill
Senior Brand Manager: Nicola Schwendler
Brand Manager: Christina Reid