The 90’s rapper is back to help New Zealanders show up before their beers blow up in this DB Breweries campaign by Special.
If seeing is believing, it looks like the ’90s are making a comeback.
When ‘90s rapper Vanilla Ice popped up in this spot for New Zealand beer Export Ultra, for a second, Ad Nut literally did think we’d all been transported to the bygone era. You know, back when ‘ice, ice baby…’ would swirl in your head ad nauseam. Don’t even try to resist humming along, it’s futile.
But the random reemergence of Vanilla Ice isn’t to launch a new single or unleash a new rap hook that gets stuck in your head for decades, it’s to launch the Export Ultra Cold Call Back Service—a service designed to help New Zealanders show up before their beers blow up. Ad Nut is not making this up.
Apparently, over the last 12 months, more than half of people in New Zealand have accidentally frozen a beer. And Kiwi beer brand Export Ultra launched a service that stops you accidentally exploding your beers in freezers.
Joining the fun is easy for people living in New Zealand: Simply place your beer in the freezer, text ‘ICE ICE’ to 423, and in 34 minutes, you’ll receive a call from Vanilla Ice himself, reminding you to check your beer before it turns into a frosty disaster. The main man even has a rolling series of summer messages planned such as bespoke rhymes for Valentine’s Day (‘Roses are red, violets are blue, ya boi Vanilla Ice got a reminder for you’) and a pledge for Christmas (‘I do my calls like I do my Christmas presents… they always come (w)rapped’).
The campaign TV spot shows Vanilla Ice at his Miami mansion going about his daily activities, where he casually polishes his impressive record collection and tends to his expansive 10-acre garden, all while making calls to residents in New Zealand to remind them to check their beers before they explode in the freezer.
Jonathan McMahon, chief creative officer at Special New Zealand who led strategy, creative ideation and production, said: “We’ve all been there. You put beer in freezer to chill while you chill. But you chill too much, and they chill too much and then… boom. And as Vanilla Ice would agree, that ain’t chill. Luckily the rap legend is now here, all summer long, to personally call every New Zealander who needs a reminder to take their Export Ultra out of the freezer.
“And luckily the Export Ultra team have a great ambition to save beer, a brilliant sense of humour and a strong desire to free up their drinkers so they can enjoy their summers in this wonderful beer garden of ours.”
Vanilla Ice’s Export Ultra Cold Call Back Service will be saving Kiwis’ beers from December 2024 through to February 2025, because a frosty beer is cool, but a frozen beer? Ice-cold heartbreak.
Very unexpected, very random, but very cool. Ad Nut would ordinarily shun a celebrity-fronted ad, but who else could front such a campaign?
CREDITS
Client: DB Breweries
Fraser Shrimpton, Marketing Director DB Breweries
Kate Baars, Senior Marketing Manager DB Breweries
Lauren Parker Condon, Brand Manager, DB Breweries
Jordan Grace, Assistant Brand & Shopper Manager
Annabel Buckley, Trade Marketing Manager
SPECIAL NEW ZEALAND
Tony Bradbourne, Founder, Creative Chairman, CEO NZ
Lisa Fedyszyn, Chief Creative Officer Jonathan McMahon, Chief Creative Officer
Simon Watts, Creative
Rhiana Merota, Art Director
Liz Garneau, Executive Producer
Therese Bielawa, Head of Production
Matt Abraham, Senior Digital Producer
Hamish Kuka, Social Editor
‘Courtney Spillane, Senior Business Manager
Rory Gallery, Partner, Chief Strategy Officer
Josh Taylor-Dadds, Group Strategy Director
Ursula Nichols , Group Strategy & CX Director
Nina Richardson, Strategist
SPECIAL PR
Kelly Grindle, Managing Director
Natasha D’Souza, Group PR Director
Jessica Walker, Senior PR Manager
DENTSU AOTEAROA
Tasmin Bradley, Senior Business Director
Grace McCarthy, Associate Digital Director
Lucciane Surtees, Business Director
Melis Shosanya, Business Manager
Ellie Ritchie, Senior Account Manager (Social)
RAYDAR
Simeon Trew, Account Director
VANILLA ICE aka Robert Van Winkle represented by TQ Management Agency
TQ Management Agency: Chuck Quon
TQ Management Agency: Tommy Quon
Foss Films for Vanilla Ice: Jon Foss
PRODUCTION COMPANY: RSA FILMS
Peter Martin, Director
Luke Ricci, President/EP
Jenni Sprunger , EP
Sarah Morrison, Head of Production
Liz Gonzalez, Producer
Beth Henning, Producer
Rafael Herrera, 1st AD
Sean Porter, DOP
Walter Rodriguez, 1st AC
Danny Garcia, DIT
Ana Huber, Prop Master
Eric Moorman, Sound Mixer
Naty Parodi, Key Costume
Juliana Moss, Key Make Up
Caleb Santos, PA
Ro Espinoza, PA:
Kevin Zimmerman, Editor
David Rothbaum, Composer
ONLINE/VFX/COlOUR: HECKLER SYDNEY
Amy Jarman, Heckler Executive Producer
Jamie Watson, Heckler Executive Creative Director
Julian Ford, Flame
Ferg Rotherham, Colourist
RECORDING POWER STATION RECORDING STUDIOS, FLORIDA
Rob Roy, Producer, Mix Engineer, Director
Brennan Fulton, Senior Engineer
Steven Ludwig, Assistant Engineer
SOUND: LIQUID STUDIOS
Andy Morton, Engineer
Tamara O’Neil, Producer
