“Hartwall: The Greyest Day of the Year”

To promote their national alcoholic beverage, Hartwall’s Original Long Drink (a mix of gin and grapefruit soda) wanted to do something that put the brand on everyone’s radar. However, as it turns out, there are strict rules prohibiting OOH and social media advertising for alcoholic brands. Hartwall got around it by co-opting and rebranding Finland’s characteristically sunless grey skies and cold weather, turning the entire country into probably the biggest OOH ad. They call the campaign – ‘The Greyest Day of Year’.

They worked with meteorologists to identify Finland’s greyest day of the year (November 17) and launched it as a holiday with a very grey celebration at Alla Sea Pool next to the presidential palace in Helsinki and all over Finland in local events and people’s homes. Hartwall’s Original Long Drink was served and there were concerts and local celebs in attendance. They also partnered with Billebeino clothing brand to create a grey line of clothing in celebration of the day. The campaign created a big buzz in social media as Finns were sharing their grey celebrations. Also other companies and even Hartwall’s competitors made The Greyest Day of the Year offers. Earned media visibility of the day was vast.

According to a survey conducted after the campaign, nearly every fifth Finn was influenced by the effort, recognizing that November 17 as the greyest day of the year. Association between Hartwall Original Long Drink and the grey color also strengthened: more than every fifth (23 %) Finn associates a grey color to Hartwall Original Long Drink. A third of Finns recall seeing the campaign and a third of those already stated they will celebrate “The Greyest Day of The Year” in 2019 as well.