• by Fern Siegel , February 14, 2022

Cutwater Spirits kicked off its new work — “Here’s to the Lazy Ones” — at the Super Bowl. It’s notable as Cutwater’s first national ad at the big game. (Last year's "Cut Out" spot only ran regionally in seven markets.)

The twist: “Lazy” gets a makeover. It’s seen as clever and ingenious, touting those who work smarter, not harder. For example, a woman uses a massage gun to tenderize meat, while a man employs a blowtorch, rather than a shovel, to clear his snowy driveway.

The spots are inspired by Apple’s “Think Different” spots, which started with the line: “Here’s to the crazy ones.”

The 30- and 60-second black-and-white spots come from AKQA, directed by Tom Kuntz, who also directed spots for Apple, Bacardi and Old Spice. Only the Cutwater cocktails are in color.

The work smarter, not harder theme is part of Cutwater Spirits ongoing 2022 campaign. The Cutwater ad will live on YouTube in 30- and 60-second versions. It will also run in a 15-second version on TV, broadcast and streaming, throughout the year, as well as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

“We’ve never taken ourselves too seriously and that sentiment carries through in our first national Big Game commercial as we celebrate the ingenuity of working smarter, not harder,” says Yuseff Cherney, Cutwater’s co-founder and master distiller. “Since day one, we have been committed to using our own real spirits to make the best bar-quality cocktails available in a can so folks can spend more time doing the things they love.”

Anheuser-Busch bought the brand, which relies on quirky humor to promote its 20 canned cocktail classics, in 2019. Cutwater Spirits debuted in 2017.

The global ready-to-drink cocktails market size was valued at $782.8 million in 2021 and is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 13.4% from 2022 to 2030, according to Grand View Research.