AdMiration feature: Mike’s Hard Lemonade “Hard Days - Delivery”

For this week’s AdMiration feature, we researched Mike’s Hard Lemonade’s “Hard Days - Delivery” ad.

This ad is part of a campaign that marks their 25th anniversary, which does a fantastic job at capturing the audience's attention as well as establishing a strong, humorous link between hard days and Mike’s Hard Lemonade.

Read on to get our 3-2-1 snapshot of the ad (3 facts, 2 learnings and 1 reflection) and learn how their ad was received based on our data.

The ad opens to a scene where a delivery boy walks into a convenience store and asks the two shopkeepers for an “ice cold Mike’s” in a defeated tone. One of the shopkeepers, Joel, asks the other, Hank, whether he means a “Mike’s Hard Lemonade” while staring intently at the delivery boy. Hank replies with “I don’t know, was his day hard enough for a refreshing Mike’s Hard Lemonade, Joel?”

As the shopkeepers continue to question whether the delivery boy’s day has been hard enough, the ad flashes back to earlier in the day when the boy enters a house to make a delivery that has a big sign saying, “Beware of the dog. Enter at your own risk.” A cute, tiny dog appears, barking at the delivery boy and chasing after him. Scared, he drops the packages he was holding and runs away, crashing onto the metal fence, breaking it and falling on the pavement as the dog reaches him. 

The flashback is interrupted as Hank hands him a pack of Mike’s Hard Lemonade bottles. Mocking the delivery boy, the shopkeepers bark and growl at him while he takes the pack of Mike’s warily. The ad closes with the message, “Hard days deserve a hard lemonade.” 

3 facts

• The ad scores in the top 1% of all US ads in potential to drive short-term sales and in the top 5% in potential to drive brand equity and long-term sales. 

• It made people laugh beyond the average US ad, making it highly enjoyable from start to finish.

• People thought the link between hard days and Mike’s Hard Lemonade was established extremely clearly, helping drive brand appeal and a purchase uplift significantly above the country norm. 

2 learnings

• The hook of your narrative determines whether your ad will capture the audience’s attention immediately, but it is how the story unfolds and concludes that has a real impact on how viewers will feel about the brand after watching.

• Humor doesn’t need to exist exclusively in an ad. It is possible to elicit a strong enough love reaction while still driving humor by making your brand and the role it plays in the story the focal point for evoking love. 

1 reflection

Are you clear on the consumer needs the category you play in taps into? Understanding which needs your brand meets for consumers and utilizing these as the base for your brand communications can drive relatability and ultimately further engagement.

The ad scores in the top 1% of all US ads in potential to drive short-term sales (Sales Impact: 99) and in the top 5% in potential to drive brand equity and long-term sales (Brand Impact: 95). 

This makes it the most effective US ad we’ve delved into in our AdMiration series so far! 

It’s highly attention grabbing (claimed attention: 4.3 vs 3.9 norm) as the narrative pulls the audience in, wanting to find out how hard the delivery man’s day was and whether he will be deserving of Mike’s Hard Lemonade. It creates a sense of mystery and delivers a satisfying resolution. 

It’s incredibly distinctive (ad distinctiveness: 4.2 vs 3.8) and sets the brand apart from others in the category (brand distinctiveness: 4.0 vs 3.7 norm); significantly outperforming in uniqueness of brand impressions (4.4 vs 3.9 norm), with 57% of people saying it could only be for Mike’s Hard Lemonade. 

With a strong presence of the actual product, the brand name being mentioned audibly a number of times and the prevalence of the logo throughout, the ad was very well branded. The addition of lemons on and in front of the store counter was also a nice touch to complement the brand.

The ad was effective in driving a strong emotional reaction from viewers (overall emotion: 63% vs 58% norm) with laughter being the dominant emotion felt throughout (37% vs 12% norm). This was followed by love, felt by 29% of the audience (vs 27% norm). 

The audience felt peaks of emotion across multiple different moments in the ad, keeping them engaged from start to finish (emotional intensity: 18 vs 15 norm).

The comedic approach also made the ad memorable and helped it stand out. It’s highly relatable and enjoyable, with enjoyment scores at 4.3 compared to a 3.9 norm. This is because the creative idea taps into a huge consumer need of reaching for a treat (in this case a refreshing beverage) after having a bad day or as a consolation prize, mirroring the need to grab a treat as a reward or to celebrate an achievement. 

Here’s what some respondents had to say about the ad:

• "I thought this ad was very funny and creative. It portrayed the various characters in a humorous and realistic way - we all can relate to this type of scenario. I thought it was very clever to incorporate the play on words with "hard days" and"hard lemonade."

• "It was fun, relevant, eye-catching and makes me want to drink it on my hard days. Feels fresh, new and unique ad that is more appealing."

• "I loved the bright blue eyed tiny dog and how he turned out to be vicious. It made me laugh. The cashiers giving him a hard time made me laugh. The ending was very clear about hard days deserving Mike's hard lemonade which I also liked."

• "I like the humor in the ad. Like the cashiers growling at the customer after hearing how he was chased off by a small dog."

The key message came across extremely well with most people being able to spontaneously bring it up when recalling what the ad was trying to convey. In addition, 95% of the viewers agreed the message of “Hard days deserve Mike’s Hard Lemonade” was clearly communicated. 

With such a clear message, it has potential to drive a massive purchase uplift for the brand (33% vs 19% norm). Before watching the ad, 27% would have chosen Mike’s Hard Lemonade the next time they are buying hard seltzers; after watching the ad this number shoots up to 60%. 

Overall, the ad made people feel more positively about the brand (brand appeal: 4.2 vs 3.9 norm) and significantly more likely than average to consider it (persuasion: 4.1 vs 3.8 norm).

This was a highly humorous and memorable ad from Mike’s Hard Lemonade — and a great way to celebrate their 25th anniversary.  

Which of the three ads was your favorite of the series? Delivery, Firefighter or Mascot? Let us know by engaging with our LinkedIn post!

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