The archive · Advertising · Marketing decision · 2022
Matilda Bay sells the 27 ales its brewer rejected — Original Ale sales boom
To launch the ale it took 27 batches to perfect, Matilda Bay released the 27 near-perfect rejects as a real range.
Matilda Bay Brewery
What it had to solve
Matilda Bay's master brewer took 27 batches before accepting the Original Ale, yet selling a traditional golden ale in an Australian craft market hooked on lagers, pales and hazies was an uphill battle. The launch needed a story that made the painstaking quest itself the reason to buy.
How it works
Matilda Bay's brewers needed 27 batches before their master brewer accepted one: the Original Ale. Rather than hide that history, the brand built the launch of the perfect beer on the 27 near-perfect beers that came before it.
The Rejected Ales range put those rejects on shelves next to the Original, each can carrying the story of its own rejection. Original and Rejected Ales were distributed to drinks retailers, with OOH, press, film, radio and direct marketing driving people to the range.
The campaign made imperfection the entertainment: the rejects even won silver at a major beer awards, losing gold — as the story demanded — to Original Ale. The brand narrative paid off commercially, with a boom in Original Ale sales, a 17% rise in stockists and more than 14 million media impressions.
D&AD jurors singled out the writing — succinct, distinctive and witty, adding to the experience of drinking the beer — and the work went on to win nine D&AD Pencils, including three Yellow, in 2022.
Why it lands
- It converts a weakness into proof: the 27 rejects make the claim of perfection believable, because the customer sees the work behind it.
- The product itself is the media — every rejected can carries a story, turning packaging and retail displays into the campaign.
- The self-deprecating joke is structurally consistent: even the awards story ends with Original Ale beating the Rejected range.
- It worked within a small budget by making retailers the channel, giving bottle shops a reason to stock the hero beer.
What it did
Original Ale sales boomed, stockists rose 17% and the campaign generated over 14 million media impressions. The work later took nine D&AD Pencils, three of them Yellow, at the D&AD Awards 2022.
What you can take
A brand's hidden failure can be its most credible sales story: sell the rejects, give each one a voice, and let the customer discover the 'perfect' product as the punchline.
Since then
The campaign became one of the most decorated beer ideas of its year, collecting a Grand Prix at LIA and Cannes Lions as well as nine D&AD Pencils, and it was commended at the 2022 Immortal Awards. The work is archived in the D&AD awards archive as a Writing for Design case, where the jury praised its seamless, witty writing.
Sources
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