Guinness is seen as a cold weather drink.

But we wanted to put it at the heart of summer to remind people it’s as cool and refreshing as any other drink. So we turned to iconic summer scenery: lazing on a sun lounger on a beach, waves crashing against rocks, surfboards glistening in the sun - and with the right angle, the right light we “found” the world’s most recognisable beer within the images. We conjured up the heat and refreshing thirst appeal of a cold, smooth Guinness without having to show a single pint or drinker.

The Guinness pint is one of the most recognisable icons in the world. So we made the most of its design, by finding incidental Guinness pints in iconic British summer moments, putting it in the centre of those situations. The campaign is made of a series of posters celebrating the arrival of summer, where you could find a refreshing pint of Guinness that was hiding in plain sight in different situations.

The design of the found Guinness pint is most successful when it hits the fine balance between incidental/observational and monumental. It needs to have a ‘stumbled upon’ feeling, but also hero the unmistakable pint of Guinness. This guided every design decision. The height and angle of the camera were key to make the audience feel like they were there, but also leaving plenty of space to hero and highlight the pint and show the context of summer. The lighting had to feel natural and real to the British summer, but also highlight details of the pint. On Deck Chair, the light/shadow allowed the pint to appear. On Surfboards and Rock, the light on the water reinforced the feeling of refreshment.

The poster campaign picked up PR headlines across the UK and abroad, generating a conversation around Guinness in a moment of the year which the brand usually wasn’t a part of in the past.