IRN BRU
rPET

Problem: IRN BRU were excited to announce their 500ml bottles becoming made from 100% recycled plastic (rPET). However, they were one of the last in their category to do so and similar announcements from global soft drink brands had been met with criticism & complaints over greenwashing. We needed a way to announce the arrival of rPET at IRN BRU which didn’t seem like another humble brag or worse, attempted greenwashing, and grow positive sentiment towards the brand in the process.

Insight: Brands who create waste can’t suddenly create a ‘green’ persona. Unless sustainability is ingrained in the brand, consumers are savvy enough to know when a claim rings hollow. But, they do appreciate a brand who is self aware of their impact.

Strategy: Show that by shifting to rPET bottles IRN BRU is finally growing up. By taking the impact of our packaging more seriously, it’s a sign IRN BRU is maturing and being a bit more responsible (without claiming to be a green warrior).

Idea: We decided to use the irreverent humour of the brand to disarm any naturally cynical environmentalists while wrapping that in the serious claim.  Creatively, we expressed this as IRN BRU is losing its virginity.

Results: The engagement scores were impressive, getting everyone talking about it with the OOH reaching 75% of our target audience at a frequency of 12.5 while the social element of the campaign achieved an average of 4.8m reach with 12.5k Likes and Reactions, 461 comments and 151 Shares.. But more importantly, Pulsar tracking showed a +19 point uplift in average brand sentiment with 100% of the posts picked up by Pulsar registering as exhibiting the emotion of joy.