Tooheys Extra Dry Platinum achieved cult status in the early 2000s as Australia’s first high strength lager. It turned the category on its head - it came in 8 packs, with 1.8 standard drinks in each bottle, with an ABV of 6.5%. It was revolutionary in the category, quickly developing a notorious reputation.

But its high strength would also bring about its undoing.

In a country renowned for its strict alcohol laws, concerns from the community in regard to the beer’s high strength forced Tooheys’ hand - the beer was removed from shelves only a few short years after its introduction.

But in the years that followed, a vocal and die-hard underground following remained online, eulogising the beer and its notorious past, celebrating it, creating memes and advocating for its return on forums to this very day.

Over 20 years since Platinum first hit the shelves, we knew the time was right for it to make a comeback.

The question remained, how do you relaunch what is arguably the most notorious beer Australians have ever seen?

Rather than shying away from its notorious online legacy, we harnessed it, relaunching TED Plats in a way befitting its controversial past - through the website of our very own front company, Platinum Logistics.

The kicker was, you had to be incognito to find it.

As high ABV (alcohol by volume) products are a growing market in Australia amongst Gen Zs and Millennials, our strategy was to reignite the existing memory structures amongst those who grew up with the beer, positioning Tooheys Extra Dry Platinum as the original high ABV beer before its time.

The approach in attracting these target markets was to generate enough buzz and pre-store awareness to make customers aware of its return, driving trial and conversion to ensure Platinum was appealing to these consumers, meeting them where they play (digital and social).

We needed to relaunch TED Plats in a way that felt tonally aligned to its notorious reputation. And a way that would generate earned attention.

So, the opposite of a big beer launch, we leaned into its past - and kept it on the down low.

The Incognito Launch was fronted by a shell company, Platinum Logistics. Visiting the website in standard browsing mode showed you the business credentials of a seemingly ordinary logistics company.

It was only when fans visited in incognito mode that they could reveal the hidden whereabouts of Australia’s most infamous beer.

1 URL. 2 entirely different website experiences.

Details on the website led fans to sketchy underground physical locations around the country where they could redeem a passphrase for concealed packages containing Platinum.

The campaign started with a single forum post in online forums where it was still being mythologised. From there it wasn’t long before the broadcast media got wind of our shenanigans.

In doing so, the campaign amassed a reach of over 16 million impressions (in a country of 25 million), making headlines around the country and eclipsing the benchmarked expectations of 4 million impressions. The Incognito Launch generated attention from major mastheads in Australia (including The Daily Mail and The Daily Telegraph). The benchmark of 6-8 consumer/lifestyle publications was also exceeded with 18.

Not bad for a beer we intentionally made hard to find. And while the launch might have been incognito, the word is now well and truly out.

The campaign started with a single forum post in the one place our beer was still being mythologised: the internet. From there it wasn’t long before the broadcast media got wind of our shenanigans.

In doing so, the campaign amassed a reach of over 16 million impressions (in a country of 25 million), making headlines around the country and eclipsing the benchmarked expectations of 4 million impressions. The Incognito Launch generated attention from major mastheads in Australia (including The Daily Mail and The Daily Telegraph). The benchmark of 6-8 consumer/lifestyle publications was also exceeded with 18.

Not bad for a beer we intentionally made hard to find. And while the launch might have been incognito, the word is now well and truly out.