- Product/Brand - Kronenbourg 1664
- Spot - Farmers of Alsace
- Song Title - We Are The Champions
- Composer - Freddy Mercury
- Publisher - EMI Music
- Artist - Karel Vagner
- Record Company - Multisonic
- Ad Agency - Ogilvy & Mather London
- Creative(s) - Paul Mason, Mark Harrison
- Film Company - Stink
- Film Director - Ivan Zacharias
- Post Product - Framestore
- Air Date - Feb 04 2013
Ooh ahh Cantona. It’s hard to pick a highlight when it comes to the career of Eric Cantona. His finest moments include that volley four minutes from time in the 1996 FA Cup final, which left Liverpool broken hearted – again. More recently there was his charming, if surprising, collaboration with Ken Loach in the indie hit Looking For Eric.
Even some of Cantona’s madder moments (“When the seagull follows the trawler...”) and ugly side (when he tried to stop xenophobia taking root in football by taking a flying kung fu kick at a Crystal Palace fan in 1995) only seem to have added to the man’s myth.
Now, Heineken have reached out to the French footballing legend for a bit of that magic. In an inspired piece of casting Cantona brings his unique sangfroid to work on the brewer's Kronenbourg 1664 brand.
It’s a clever little cameo for the former Manchester United star, who salutes the hop farmers of Alsace because of their contribution to the brewing success of 1664.
“The hop farmers of Alsace are treated like the footballers of Britain,” intones Cantona, against the backdrop of farmers enjoying the various fruits of their labour (Ferraris and young women on tap, it seems).
And while Cantona pads around the north west region of France celebrating the “hero hop farmers” he is soundtracked by the biggest and best power ballad of all time, Queen’s 1977 We Are The Champions, from the band’s News Of The World album.
So how did one of rock’s most recognisable songs, which has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame no less and was used at the FIFA World Cup in 1994, get to sit side by side with Big Eric?
So how did one of rock’s most recognisable songs, which has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame no less and was used at the FIFA World Cup in 1994, get to sit side by side with Big Eric?
Well first off, it’s not the original track. But, electing to ditch the Freddty Mercury fronted original in favour of an instrumental re-record by popular Czech orchestra leader Karel Vagner, was a deliberate choice according to the Ogilvy creative team Paul Mason and Mark Harrison,
“We wanted something that would feel like a genuine fit with the French provincial setting, and we wanted it to be ownable for the brand and to take some of the shape of the ad. The music has to enhance the film, not over-power it,” they argue.
The pair add that the music was chosen at the edit stage of the ad. They thought We Are The Champions fit the story line of the ad perfectly because it is about farmers who are championed because of the hops they grow for Kronenbourg.
“The lyrics do a pretty good job at reinforcing that. It is also a legendary piece of music. Queen's most famous track ever, which is saying something. The track was the perfect fit for the film and a natural choice that everyone immediately loved,” say the Ogilvy & Mather creatives.
“We always wanted an anthemic track to help create an epic feel. We wanted to give a sense of scale - our Alsace farmers may come from a relatively small place, but they are hero-worshipped on a great scale and we wanted the music to give a strong sense of that power.”
Well, they did a good job. The ad has got everything. Fast cars, fast women, fat farmers and possibly France's only one true legend. Catch Cantona's sly wink at the end of the ad and you wonder why he isn't playing Richard III at the Old Vic.
Oh - and it's also a good tune. In fact the fit between Mercury’s anthem, Cantona and the hop farmers was so good that Mason and Harrison claim no other piece of music was ever Oh - and it's also a good tune. In fact the fit between Mercury’s anthem, Cantona and the hop farmers was so good that Mason and Harrison claim no other piece of music was considered.
