• by Les Luchter , June 6, 2022

Positioning the addition of real fruit juice as a step-up from traditional hard seltzers, New Belgium’s Fruit Smash Hard Seltzer and Anheuser-Busch’s NÜTRL Vodka Seltzer have launched new campaigns. They follow on the heels of a recently launched campaign for E&J Gallo’s High Noon Sun Sips.

For Fruit Smash, two :30 spots from the Callen agency feature an actual talking head turning both a stale "Office Party" and a stale "Apartment Party" into an Electronic Dance Party by singing a song with a repetitive one-word lyric: “Fruit.”

The spots are running on social, digital, and streaming channels.

NÜTRL, meanwhile, has invited New Yorkers to attend a free Seltzer Graduation and after-party on March 7. The price of admission is a trade-in of any basic hard seltzer.

“Saturday Night Live” star Chris Redd will deliver a commencement address (aka standup comedy) at the event, which in addition to food and drink will include a live marching band, and “upgrade stations” with hair stylists, beard groomers and makeup artists to upgrade looks; professional photographers to upgrade images; and massages and red-light therapy treatments to upgrade wellness. 

NÜTRL is also launching a sweepstakes that will pay the winner $15,000 to help him or her “upgrade their living situation and graduate from sharing a space with roommates to living solo – plus a year’s supply of NÜTRL.”

High Noon, which like NÜTRL, contains vodka, seltzer and fruit juice, is the frontrunning fruit juice seltzer. Its latest “Sun’s Up” campaign, from the Preacher agency, includes a :60 “May Your Day Be Sunny” spot; :15  and :30 “May Your Day Be a DDay for Golf” spots; :15  and :30 “May Any Lake Day be a Great Lake Day” spots; and a:15 “Hot Tub and Cold Seltzer” spot.

The videos, which also include :06 versions, are running on broadcast, streaming platforms and social media.

The campaign also includes out-of-home ads running in Tampa and Nashville with the respective location-specific lines, “May you live like you’re retired even if you’re 26 and employed” and “May your beverage be cold, and your chicken be hot.”

Also for this summer, High Noon has introduced a limited-edition pool pack with two new flavors and collaborated with Tropical Bros. on a line of women’s and men’s swimsuits and a Hawaiian shirt.