Old Jamaica bids farewell in 'first-of-its-kind' campaign

Old Jamaica, the UK’s favourite ginger beer, is saying goodbye.

The ‘Farewell Old Jamaica’ campaign, led by SAMY Alliance is a bold, irreverent and potentially world-first public ‘retirement of a brand’. It aims to celebrate the 34-year-old iconic ginger beer and its legacy before it bids an ‘au revoir’, going out in a tongue in cheek blaze of glory.

And while the campaign has only just started to be teased out on social channels, fans are already heartbroken. One Instagram user even commented: “Is this for real? With everything going on in the world, now this. How will we survive?”

The multi-faceted campaign will run, with many unpredictable twists and turns mapped out, together with an ability to flex to consumer reactions and world events. It has been conceived as a social-first campaign and will feature hero videos to launch the narrative. A supporting mix of social, digital and out of home advertising together with surprising creative stunts will bring the curtain down on the brand in grand style!

The campaign kicks off with a hilariously grandiose, often foul mouthed, farewell speech from an Old Jamaica shelf-stacker pushed out on the brand's social media channels. Delivering the news, “Tom” scolds the overly emotional violin accompaniment, has to check his script, and has a crisis of confidence when he realises his lack of career progression in his twenty-five years on the factory floor - setting the tone for the rest of this alternative farewell campaign.

The announcement is being supported by out of home teaser activations running on buses with the words “FAREWELL OLD JAMAICA”.

The brand will then be embarking on a lengthy farewell tour in the form of a social media content series, including fun videos of the iconic Old Jamaica can putting in a guest appearance at concerts, football matches, convenience stores and bars - for those who have missed out on the party to date.

The celebrations don't stop there though, with more surprises planned for the brand’s big goodbye.

Old Jamaica will also fulfil its ultimate wishes in guerilla mode, completing a farewell bucket list that will feature the ginger beer in unconventional scenarios.

As the curtain closes on the nation's favourite ginger beer, and people accept that the brand’s goodbye is looming, Old Jamaica will end with a final CAN-down - a website featuring a real time counter showing the number of Old Jamaica cans left in the market. And then, they’re gone.

SAMY Alliance CCO Americas and campaign lead, Hernán Cerdeiro said, “How do you say goodbye to the country’s favourite ginger beer? By giving it the ultimate send off. The chance to “retire a brand” was something that we relished, simply because as far as we can work out, it had never been done before so publicly.

“We wanted to give Old Jamaica's loyal customers one last chance to say goodbye, to take that final sip, and see the can ride off into the sunset. To be given that unique opportunity, by a brand that trusted us entirely, was one that we grabbed with both hands and allowed us to get really creative with the campaign.

“This was a truly collaborative process within Samy Alliance, having the opportunity to take advantage of all our capabilities and global teams, from creativity to media, influencers, data, community management and production; and of course the full buy-in from our great client into this crazy idea, meant the whole thing was possible.”

Alfonso Haces, Senior Global Marketing Head at Beliv Company (the parent company of Old Jamaica) commented, “For 34 years, Old Jamaica has been more than just a drink; it's been a vibrant part of our lives, infusing the bold spirit of Jamaica into every sip around the world. Now, as we bid farewell, we're not whispering goodbye in silence—we're shouting it from the rooftops with the world’s first farewell campaign for a brand.”

Santiago Lucero, Global Creative Director at SAMY ALLIANCE said, “This is the type of project that SAMY ALLIANCE believes in- true collaboration across countries, disciplines, and positions. Clients and agencies act as partners, pushing liquid ideas that transcend channels and platforms, making the most of each in the best way possible while always staying true to the campaign concept. When a case can be told starting from any medium or channel, it is truly channel and platform agnostic, and in our opinion, that is the way it should be.”