A surreal invitation to drink Asahi Super Dry

It may not be a good idea to sit down for a beer with an apparent Yakuza boss who keeps a giant squid as a pet and is guarded by gravity-defying, katana-wielding warriors, but that's the offer presented in this 60-second ad by Accenture Interactive's The Monkeys for Asahi Super Dry.

Directed by Marco Prestini from In The Thicket, the film leads a campaign that includes broadcast, cinema, OOH, digital, press, path-to-purchase and social elements. The work debuts in Australia tomorrow and will roll out in New Zealand in February, according to the agency. 

Despite the surreal twists, the work plays with relatively clichéd tropes about Japanese culture. So Ad Nut doesn't think it would play very well in the beer's home market. On the other hand, it seems particularly well tuned to stand out in the target markets, where, as the agency points out, the category is "diluted with stories of mateship".

CREDITS

Client: Asahi Premium Beverages
General Manager, Marketing AUS / NZ: Michael Edmonds
Group Category Manager: Kym Bonollo
Beer Marketing Manager: Michael Vousden

Agency: The Monkeys Melbourne
CEO: Paul McMillan
CCO: Ant Keogh
Creative Director: Wayne Ching
Art Director: Joe Sibley
Writers: Ant Keogh, Wayne Ching & Hugh Gurney
Designer: Jess Ramsey
Head of Strategy: Mike Derepas
Head of Production: Romanca Jasinski
Production Coordinator: Anne-Maree Shelton
Group Content Director: Lee Lowndes
Content Director: Navin Arunasalam
Content Executive: Allan Carlow

Production Company: In The Thicket
Director: Marco Prestini @DivisionSydney
Executive Producer: Genevieve Triquet
Producer: Nick Simkins
D.O.P: Stefan Duscio
Production Design: Michael Iacono
Costume Designer: Joanna Mae Park

Editor: Dan Lee @ The Butchery

VFX & Post Production: Alt. VFX
VFX Supervisor: David Edwards
Executive Producer: Tyrone Estephan
VFX Producer: Adrianna Spanos
Colourist: Edel Rafferty

Sound Design: Paul Le Couteur @ Nylon Studios

Music: Level Two Music

Ad Nut is a surprisingly literate woodland creature that for unknown reasons has an unhealthy obsession with advertising. Ad Nut gathers ads from all over Asia and the world for your viewing pleasure, because Ad Nut loves you. You can also check out Ad Nut's Advertising Hall of Fame, or read about Ad Nut's strange obsession with 'murderous beasts'.