We completely understood [and secretly enjoyed] the symbolic association between a beer and Vanilla Ice. But Castle Lite’s recent collaboration with MC Hammer, is well beyond our comprehension of relevance. This bar clearly doesn’t sell a lot of  Castle Lite if the barman is so completely overwhelmed and surprised by the extra cold beverage. Surely he’d have a pair of gloves or a branded tong that could assist him in serving the extra cold bottle as part of his busy schedule of serving a popular beer.

Maybe it works for people that do, or potentially could drink Castle Lite. But we’re clearly not one of them.

It’s the follow up from the real Vanilla Ice ad from last year, but for us it doesn’t work at all. We kinda enjoyed the one with a microphone tossing Mr Ice. This version feels like it’s trying to hard perpetuate the love from before. [thanks Amy]

We haven’t been watching too much 7de Laan lately, so for the past week everyone has been nattering about Vanilla Ice this, Castle LIte that…and we still hadn’t seen the ad anywhere.

Now we have it and have been studying Mr Ice for brief intervals over the last 5 minutes. As far as we know Castle Lite is not an ‘ice’ beer [like Rolling Rock or Molson], but in a very don’t-worry-too-much-about-the-Vanilla-Ice-gimmick, it makes perfect sense. Drink the beer ice cold [as indicated] and the party is on. It’s on even more if you supplement the alcohol volumes with shots of Jagermeister, but you’re good to go.

Here’s the press release from Ogilvy:

There is nothing like an international rap star like Vanilla Ice, to bring some tongue in cheek flavour to an already popular beer brand like Castle Lite. The commercial, created for South African Breweries (SAB), emphasises the beer’s new extra cold attribute by aligning it with Vanilla Ice, otherwise known as Robert Matthew Van Winkle, and his number one hit single from the 90’s, ‘Ice Ice Baby’.

The brief to Ogilvy Cape Town was to highlight Castle Lite’s new intrinsic proposition about being ‘extra cold’. The temperature of the product is carefully managed from brewery to bar ensuring a crisp, premium beer. The new Castle Lite products also have thermocromatic ink stickers which appear blue when at their ideal temperature for consumption – extra cold.

The campaign also includes exclusive ice-cold fridges found in premium on-premise outlets across the country; these fridges house the new products ensuring it’s served to its consumers at extreme cold temperatures.

Ogilvy Cape Town and SAB worked with director, Peter Pohorsky of Plank Films, pushing the boundaries in the beer category.

“We needed a creative device to drive home the new product offering of being ice cold – and the classic ‘Ice Ice Baby’ song proved a winner. The first prize became to get Vanilla Ice to be part of the commercial and we were thrilled when he agreed,” says Ogilvy Cape Town Creative Director, Gordon Ray.

“It was imperative to shape an idea that would break through the clutter and stand out – and what a better way to do that than to use a character like Vanilla Ice, to express what the brand is all about – an extra cold lager. The two fitted perfectly, we couldn’t have secured a more suitable collaboration.”

Emma Lundy, head of broadcast at Ogilvy Cape Town contacted his agent and negotiations began. The 90’s rap star is still very active in his performance career doing up to 100 concerts a year. He managed to find a window in his busy schedule and flew down to Cape Town for a few days to shoot the ad in a location in Stellenbosch before his next concert in Dallas. Van Winkel will be returning to the country later this year to perform in Pretoria.

“He was so calm, cool and co-operative on set”, explains Ray. “We designed a blue sequenced outfit which he was more than happy to wear and we shaved his head and eyebrows to create his original look from the 90’s. He was really a pleasure to work with – he’s still got all the moves and the attitude and was eager to do whatever was required, and improvise.”

The lead actor in the ad, Sekoati Tusban of Sewende Laan was one of Vanilla Ice‘s most devoted fans as a young child. Tusban and the rest of the cast were in for a big surprise when Vanilla Ice appeared on set, as they were unaware he would be joining them in the commercial until the day of the shoot.

“It’s amazing what’s possible when we stop, collaborate, and listen,” concludes Ogilvy Cape Town Managing Director, Gavin Levinsohn.

video link

[thanks Amy]