• by Steve Ellwanger , September 7, 2022

Can flies swarming on beverage cans help revitalize sales growth? 

Boston Beer and agency Goodby, Silverstein & Partners are about to find out. 

In July, recognizing that hard seltzer had lost its novelty among consumers, Truly decided to reformulate and improve its 31 flavors by adding real fruit juice to the beverages. 

In conceiving an advertising campaign, Truly’s creative team asked themselves: Who loves fruit more than anyone else?, says Matt Withington, the brand’s senior director of marketing. 

“And there was one answer: fruit flies,” he tells Marketing Daily. 

Cue real-life California animal trainer Tyler DeTrude. DeTrude, whose credits include acting as reptile handler for the HBO series “Westworld” and as public programs educator at the Philadelphia Zoo, was game to add fruit-fly handler to his resume. (You can check out his technique on this behind-the-scenes video.) 

“Fruit fly wrangling might not be a widely known profession yet, but we know Tyler is destined to be a star,” Withington declares.

Creative (screen grab above) shows fruit flies swarming all over the top of open cans of Truly, with copy explaining that while fruit juice "makes for more refreshing, easier Truly drinking, beware--you aren't the only one who will love our new fruit juice flavors."

Boston Beer launched Truly in 2016. 

According to retail data from NielsenIQ and Cowen and Company, Mark Anthony Brands’ White Claw was the leading hard seltzer as of Aug. 27, with a 44.7% dollar share of the category. Truly was No. 2, at 26.1%, followed by Bud Light at 7.4%.