Say no to wine, yes to great advertising

The Export Dry campaign "Say No To Wine" is definitely one of my favourites so far in 2012. And now the hilarious TV ads have been supplemented with these cheeky print ads. With statements like "the problem with wine, is that it's not wine" these ads have some of the best copywriting I've read (kudos to copywriter Simon Vicars). While campaign is entertaining more importantly it's selling. Russell Browne, marketing manager for DB Export told Stop Press NZ that the newly designed Export boxes sold to shortly after the campaign launched. 

“The best campaigns aren’t only the ones that happen to be funny. This campaign resonates with our consumer target perfectly due to the humour being based on their actual experiences.” ~ Russell Browne, DB

I'm not the only one loving this campaign - it's received high praise from Ad Week who said it is "a beer ad worthy of Super Bowl airtime" and was awarded the NAB (Newspaper Advertising Bureau) Ad of the Month.

(Click on images to enlarge, for more versions click "Read More" below)

The icing on the cake is this "Wine List" print ad - I dare you to read this copy without chuckling to yourself! (Click to enlarge)

The campaign has had some extra PR exposure due to a negative reaction from some wine enthusiasts, who seem to have recently undergone humour removal surgeries. My favourite reaction was Ken Sheldrick, cellar master for the Wine and Food Society of Auckland who commented, by refusing to comment because it wasn't worth commenting on something so childish then added “New Zealand has become much more sophisticated and for adverts like that to appear just puts us back in the dark ages.” (Stop Press NZ). 

So do wine fans have a reason to be upset? Leave a comment with your thoughts below!