Notes IPA: a beer whose cans teach you guitar chords and hide picks in the pull tabs

Get consumers to actually pick up a guitar, turning the packaging and user experience into the lesson rather than advertising around the beer.

A four-pack carries four chord labels so a gripped can mimics a guitar neck. Custom pull tabs pop off into picks, and a Snapchat code on each label unlocks AR lessons — hear how chords sound, see the grip, record and share original licks. PR cases with picks and a handwritten note went to guitarists including Jack White and Robbie Robertson.

No sales figures reported. The beer itself became the campaign: AR lessons, shareable licks and a press push to some of the world's best-known guitarists at the July 2021 launch.

In July 2021, SingleCut Beersmiths — a craft brewery named after an iconic guitar body design — released Notes IPA, a brew whose every packaging detail was designed by Zulu Alpha Kilo to get consumers to pick up a guitar.

Each four-pack carries four labels showing foundational chords C, D, G and E-minor: gripping the can mimics holding a guitar neck and teaches the finger positions. The pull tabs are fitted with custom-made guitar picks that open the beer and then pop off to play it, and a Snapchat code on every label unlocks an augmented reality guitar lesson — hear how basic chords should sound, see how a fretboard is gripped, and create original licks to share.

Founder and head brewer Rich Buceta called the innovation two years in the making; the 360-degree rollout included custom cases of the beer, pull-tab picks and handwritten thank-you notes sent to famous guitarists such as Jack White and Robbie Robertson.

The product is the media: a chord diagram printed where your hand already grips turns a can into a first guitar lesson.

The pull-tab pick is a functional pun — the same flick that opens the beer plays the riff — so the gimmick costs nothing to use.

AR on the label closes the loop from looking to hearing, and shareable licks give the beer a social life beyond the shelf.

When your brand fuses two crafts, design the product so that using it teaches one of them — the packaging does the advertising.

Notes IPA launched in July 2021 as the purest distillation of the SingleCut brand, according to its agency. No commercial results were published.