Pubdate: Wed, 05 Oct 2016
Source: Windsor Star (CN ON)
Copyright: 2016 The Windsor Star
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/501
Author: Dalson Chen
Page: A4

LOCAL AGENCY PLEASED WITH REACTION TO RACY WHISKY ADS

An ad campaign for a whisky brand associated with the Trailer Park
Boys has been described as "dangerous" by the premier of Ontario - and
Windsor's Shoutabout Creative Agency couldn't be happier.

The Walkerville-based ad agency worked on the promotional materials
for Liquormen's OL' Dirty Canadian Whisky - materials replete with
four-letter words, references to drug use, and tongue-in-cheek
encouragement of alcoholism.

Premier Kathleen Wynne was taken aback by the advertising when told
about it by reporters at an unrelated news conference on Monday.

"None of that sounds particularly savoury to me ... and (it sounds)
dangerous in a lot of ways," Wynne said.

One series of ads presents mock cocktail recipes involving Liquormen's
whisky. The Sunnyvale advises drinkers to "pull out their hot knives"
and combine the liquor with consumption of hashish, marijuana and
tabletop hockey games.

The Propane Propane has a single ingredient: Liquormen's whisky.
"Let's face it, some days you're going to wake up and start drinking
before 10 a.m., " the recipe states.

Later on Monday, deputy premier Deb Matthews said the Liberal
government is concerned about the tone of the whisky's promotional
website (liquormens.com), and the LCBO will be asked to "take another
look at it."

Dean Scott, who co-owns Shoutabout Creative with Rick Santarossa, said
he's excited about the attention.

"You can't really pay for that kind of exposure," Scott said. "It's
been plastered all over national news."

Scott said Shoutabout was first contacted by Sheila Roberts - a member
of the Trailer Park Boys' marketing team - about a year ago. Roberts
had recently moved to the Windsor area, and was impressed by Scott's
editorial work with the Windsor Independent, which Scott publishes.

Since then, Shoutabout has been coming up with profane ways to spread
the legend of Liquormen's whisky.

"We wrote the ad copy. I built the website," Scott said. "We're doing
a lot of different banners, postcards, and graphics."

The site's product description assures drinkers that the whisky is
"hand-f___ing-crafted."

Those who want to find places where they can buy Liquormen's just need
to click a link entitled "Where do I find the f___ing booze?"

Scott said such coarse language was included under the direction of
the Trailer Park Boys marketing team. "They wanted something that was
a little bit racy, and that follows the voice and branding of the
Trailer Park Boys.

According to Scott, many of the aspects of the advertising that the
government finds problematic are just part of the TPB fictional
universe, which fans understand well. For example, "hash hockey" is
one of many running jokes on the TV show. "Basically, you smoke hash
while you're playing the game .... It's something that occurs
throughout the seasons of the Trailer Park Boys. They're always
referencing hash when they play hockey," Scott said.

"It's not the most strait-laced TV show," he added.

As for Wynne's suggestion that the ads could be "dangerous," Scott
wouldn't comment.

Scott said Shoutabout is glad to have had the opportunity to work with
the Trailer Park Boys brand, and they're looking forward to future
projects. "It's great for our agency to have a big, credible client
like that."
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MAP posted-by: Matt