Spitfire's 'Blighty spirit' campaign revs up for Christmas

LONDON - Spitfire Ale's latest advertising campaign will continue the brand's tongue-in-cheek wartime theme in the run-up to Christmas.

The series of 10 ads for Shepherd Neame's Spitfire Premium Kentish Ale will appear in national broadsheet newspapers and trade publications for three months.

Straplines for the 拢500,000 campaign include "Get Rid of Unsightly Steins"; a picture of Hitler with the slogan "Spot the Ball"; and a picture of a cocktail with the word "NAAFI".

Shepherd Neame sales and marketing director Mark McJennett said the advertising continued to play unashamedly on the "Blighty spirit" and had been instrumental in the growth of the brand through draught and take-home sales.

"The advertisements are designed to remind beer consumers, in a humorous way, of Spitfire's wartime heritage and they have been hugely popular -- we have received hundreds of requests for reprints of previous ads," he said.

Spitfire's ads have been the subject of several complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority, all of which have been rejected.

The campaign was developed by creative agency RPM3, which has worked on the Spitfire ads for the past six years. It was written by Ian Pittams, Jonathan Drapes and Merlin Sinclair, and art directed by Denis Williams, Keith Otter, Rob Phillips and Russell Wailes, the agency's creative director. Media buying is through John Ayling & Associates.

Earlier this year, the brewer sold a series of campaign posters to help the Victoria Cross and George Cross Association raise funds for its memorial in Westminster Abbey, and Shepherd Neame also recently raised 拢25,000 for the Battle of Britain memorial fund with a Spitfire-sponsored Old England v Kent cricket match.

If you have an opinion on this or any other issue raised on Brand Republic, join the debate in the .

You have

[DAYS_LEFT] Days left

of your free trial

Subscribe now

Get a team licence 

 Give your teams unrestricted access to in-depth editorial analysis, breaking news and premium reports with a bespoke subscription to 北京赛车pk10.

Find out more

Market Reports

Get unprecedented new-business intelligence with access to 北京赛车pk10’s new Market Reports.

Find out more

Looking for a new job?

Get the latest creative jobs in advertising, media, marketing and digital delivered directly to your inbox each day.

Create an Alert Now