The idea behind the JD Quench campaign we recently created for Sprite, was born out of the global positioning of Sprite as “The Nemesis of Thirst”.  

This seemed like a great starting point for a brand strong on thirst quenching and refreshment credentials. The challenge facing the McCann team, was how to make a brilliant brand story from it.

Armed with a simple but wide open idea, the creative team, closet fans of the world of 70’s Blaxploitation movies, imagined a world where a maverick cop (J D Quench) cleaned up the streets of 1970’s LA and took on the T.H.I.R.S.T gang with his trusty Sprite weapons.

The big leap they asked us all to take was that we had to imagine there was actually a movie shot in the 70’s based on this premise and that our entire campaign for Sprite would essentially be the film trailers for a movie that never existed.

Shot in LA by director Charley Stadler (who we actively encourage any of you to work with for his uniquely blend of German efficiency and chaos), the JD Quench campaign breaks every  rule possible – Bad acting, bad camera work, awful direction, wooden casting, atrocious editing and a rubbish sound mix. It took some great work to make the finished product this bad. 

But in the spirit of the idea it works and kudos to our clients Sharon Walsh and Aengus King who supported us all along the journey. The end product looks so dreadful that it’s something to be proud of.

Within a few months, the results are testament to a great effort by all involved.

• Enjoyment scores for Sprite advertising jumped from 70% to 94%. “Makes the brand more appealing” indicators moved from 70% to 81%.*
• 61% of consumers felt that advertising made the brand more appealing (vs 51% norm).*
• 57% felt that it was a campaign you would talk about (vs 37% norm).*
• The campaign has contributed to a 5.9% increase in Sprite growth by Q3 2008 compared to a 6% decline on the part of 7-Up.**

* Millward Brown      ** AC Nielsen

And as if to prove effective work = creative glory, the JD Quench campaign was honoured with a Kinsale Shark award and three ICAD bells.

“Ain’t but a thang” as JD might say.