Carlton Draught, the Australian beer. The Big Ad is a larger than life commercial.

This ad was a genius idea by George Patterson and Partners (Young & Rubicam) of Melbourne, Australia. Big Ad parodies the visual style of battle sequences used in notables movies like Lord of the Rings, the story is about two battle teams. In the end one group looked like a man and the other as a pot of Carlton Draught beer. The ad was catchy, interesting, musical, very dramatic with a touch of humor in it.

This was considered an expensive ad, but it entertained people, and the ad took 7 months to launch. The agency used viral marketing techniques to promote the ad before it was broadcast on television. A half a million people watched the ad on the web. Within 24 hours after release, the “Big Ad” had been downloaded 162,000 times; two weeks later, it had been seen by over one million viewers in 132 countries making it the biggest viral Australian beer launch in history.

The “Big Ad” has since received over 30 awards globally. But it was reported that given its popularity, it didn’t increase the shareholder value to match the hype and popularity.

Enjoy “The Big Ad”