Heineken Ireland first launched Island’s Edge as an ‘unexpectedly refreshing’ stout. While this was meant to engage young Irish people who love the idea of drinking stout, but don’t always love the taste of it; people’s first reaction to our launch showed that it wasn’t enough to promise refreshment.

There was just one tiny extra obstacle in the way – a not so little brand called Guinness! Ordering any other stout but Guinness in an Irish pub is almost viewed as blasphemy, making it really hard for people to even consider us.

So how do we get drinkers to start ordering Island’s Edge in Ireland without feeling that they’re going to be judged or laughed out of the pub? The answer lay in a core product truth, that in turn could mean so much more in culture: Island’s Edge is just less bitter.

This is a true performance piece and we needed actors who could mine these moments for the little slights and resentments under their surface and animating their little monologues. We deliberately cast from a pool of theater actors, both in Dublin and London, to find “interior” actors who could let us catch glimpses of the longing and wistfulness they are working so hard to hide.