Tiger Beer paints Singaporeans with a broad brush

One of Singapore’s most recognisable brands, Tiger Beer, came up with a catchy new brand positioning in late 2024 called ‘You Never Roar Alone’ to replace its decade-old ‘Uncage Your Tiger’ platform. In Singapore, however, the brand needed a fresh take for local audiences, an offshoot of its Asian positioning.

This is where ‘Our Roar, Our Way’ comes in, a way to shout the brand’s ‘unapologetically Singaporean’ ways. The hero film features common stereotypes associated with Singaporeans—boring, traditional, or kiasu. The film features a medley of scenes where millennials and Gen Zs are cloaked in neon lighting and face situations where these stereotypes are aimed to be swiftly banished.

Now, Ad Nut has the pleasure of many Singaporean human friends who are all-round excellent people. But surely even they would flinch at this sorry-not-sorry depiction of the city-state’s youth.

‘They say we are boring’, the copy reads. And the film pans to a group of friends who are seen partying in what looks like an underground bar. Problem solved, apparently. ‘They say we are kiasu’. And you see footage of a couple who crack open a beer in what’s meant to expel the film’s initial accusation of them. Worse still, the final ‘myth’ reads ‘they say we are traditional’, and this is easily fixed by footage of an inter-faith marriage. In Tiger’s plight to be conscientious, it all somehow looks and feels a little condescending.

How does a film mean to dispel negative and reductive myths about Singaporeans somehow manage to accentuate them? What was originally a noble take somehow ends up feeling contrived, overly simplistic, and even a little insulting.

Ad Nut gets it. It’s difficult being a young Singaporean at the moment what with the pressures to carry through a past generation’s often-narrow manifestation of values such as tradition, courage and resilience. These are very real, very challenging issues so many Asian youth grapple with. But instead of shining a light on these challenges or veering away from stereotypes that plague youth, Tiger’s generic renderings of its characters somehow exacerbate them. It all reads like stock footage featuring ‘trendy Asian youth’ performing ‘trendy Asian youth activities’.

While Ad Nut is a fan of the Asia-wide ‘You Never Roar Alone’ positioning, this local take is not it.

CREDITS

Client
Brand: Tiger
Product: Tiger Beer (Portfolio)
Client Representatives:
Marketing Director: Gerald Yeo
Marketing Manager: Yogender Sharma
Senior Brand Manager: Raine Lim
Brand Manager: Dawn Lee

Creative Agency
Agency Name: :Teeth
Founder & Creative Partner: Zee Agnew
Co-Founder & Managing Director: Ben Agnew
Creative Director & Strategy Director: Stephen Kyriakou
Creative Director: Diego Barboza
Creative Director: Mikey Batt
Head of Art: Hazyrah Mokhlas
Art Director: Chee Yi Wong
Jr. Art Director: Dion Chai
Jr. Art Director: Li Lyn Tan
Sr. Producer: Michelle Tan
Account Director: Gilda Orrù

Production Company
Production House: Very Crafty Films
Executive Producer: Daniaal Adam
Producer: Brenda Ong
Director: Salihin Ramli
Director of Photography (DOP): Alan Yap
Art Director: Chris Koh
Casting Director: Nicholas Kent Tann
Location Manager: Maybelle Wong
Production Manager: Emily Teng

On-Set Crew
Assistant Director (AD): Carl Siahaan
Ronin Tech: Danny Ng
First Assistant Camera (1st AC): Matthew Chong
Second Assistant Camera (2nd AC): Jean Anne Leong
Gaffer: Benjamin Ong
Key Grip: Eric Tan
Makeup Artist: Casey Ling
Wardrobe Stylist: Karen Kwa
Data Wrangler: Aizuddin Zainal

Post-Production
Editor: Aizuddin Zainal
Online Editor: Aizuddin Zainal, Benny Wong
Colorist: Matthew Chan
Sound Designer: FVSE
Composer: FVSE
Music Supervisor: FVSE

Additional Credits
Storyboard Artist: Creative Rain Studio
Motion Graphics Designer: Aizuddin Zainal, Amirul Affifi
Animator(s): Aizuddin Zainal, Amirul Affifi

Talents
Lead Actor(s): Wei Zhou, Dwayanne, Anne Surin, Rishi, Isaac, Jason, Risa, Madhu, Max, Alana, Khuwailath, Isaac, Benjamin, Sera

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'.