Shiner Prickly Pear Returns With Creative New Ad Campaign Inbox

From Shiner:

The Unique Ad Campaign Uses Real Shiner Fans and Their Comments to Announce the Return  zzubreebym

Shiner, TX  (Tuesday, May 23, 2023) Today, the independent, family-owned makers of the iconic Shiner Bock Beer, announce the highly anticipated return of Prickly Pear summer
lager, first introduced in 2012. For years, Shiner fans passionately plead for the beloved summer seasonal to come back, commenting relentlessly across social channels. Now by
popular demand, Prickly Pear is available once again in Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Florida.

Shiner’s Austin-based creative agency Bakery is taking an imaginative approach to the surrounding campaign by compiling real, unedited Instagram comments to create an ad
spot, now live on Shiner’s Instagram, portraying the return of Prickly Pear in a whimsical but adult world.

In the surrealist, animated ad spot, the opening frame starts with “a story written by the thousands of real comments asking us to bring back” above an illustrated can of Prickly Pear. Real comments with corresponding Instagram handles quickly populate the screen ranging from “Prickly Pear put a spell on me” to “Living a life without Prickly Pear is a darkness I can’t embrace.” To further pay tribute to these fans, Shiner even invited the original authors of these comments to record their own voices for their characters.

The spot then escalates to a showdown between a group of protestors outside the K. Spoetzl Brewery, a benevolent Yeti and a Prickly Pear-hating witch. The witch is ultimately defeated when she is struck with a Prickly Pear bottle thrown by a protestor. A new friendly figure with “odd eyes” arises joining the group of protestors and dancing cactus plants to celebrate the return of the treasured Prickly Pear beer. The final frame shows a bottle of Prickly Pear with the words “back by relentless demand”.

“Every time we post social content for Shiner, no matter what it’s about, we’ll get non-stop comments about Prickly Pear,” says Rodgrigo Rothschild, CD at Bakery. “After about a thousand of them, we wondered if you could write an entire script just using all these weird and random comments.”

“After some trial and error,” added Kerrie Heckel, ACD at Bakery. “We found this story that taps into both the silliness and the passion of Shiner fans. It was really fun working with
the real people behind these comments and helping them announce the return of their favorite beer.”

Prickly Pear (4.9% ABV) is a lager brewed with real prickly pear, a cactus native to Shiner’s Texan brewery home, as well as Citra and Golding hops, a blend of 2-row barley, malted wheat and Shiner’s proprietary lager yeast. This is a tart yet slightly sweet brew with a bright, fruity flavor and floral aroma. It’s crisp, refreshing and unlike any other summer lager. Just one sip and you’ll taste why Prickly Pear fans demanded its return.

“Shiner has some of the most dedicated fans on earth. Just in time for summer, we’re proud to re-introduce this cult-favorite and show our community how much we listen and appreciate them,” says Nick Weiland, Shiner’s Brand Director. “Prickly Pear is a special brew for us because it features uniquely Texan ingredients. We recommend pairing it with carne asada tacos or a grilled chicken salad for the ultimate summer
session.”

Prickly Pear is on shelves now through July at select retailers in Texas and the southeast. For more information on Shiner, its full portfolio and brewery tour bookings, visit www.shiner.com.

About Shiner and the Spoetzl Brewery: The Spoetzl Brewery was founded in Shiner, Texas (population 2,069), in 1909, by Czech and German immigrants brewing beer with old-world traditions and recipes for Central Texas. Since then, the brewery has grown to be one of the largest independent craft brewers in the country with beers available in all 50 states and Mexico. To this day, every drop of the award-winning beer is brewed right in Shiner, TX, where it all started 111 years ago. Visit us at www.shiner.com.

About Bakery: Bakery is an independent creative agency that uses art and science to connect influential brands to culture. The agency was founded in 2010 in Austin, TX. Companies like Nike, Shiner, Liquid Death, and Diageo look to Bakery for ingenious, culturally immersive creative work.