Kokanee’s The Movie Out Here continues to rack up awards

Labatt’s Breweries of Canada, owner of Creston-based Kokanee beer, and its advertising agency Grip Limited, continue to win a impressive string of awards for their feature-length movie, called The Movie Out Here.

In an effort to engage consumers Kokanee invited beer drinkers to audition for a movie role, submit props, vote for their favourite bar location to appear in the flick and submit songs for the movie soundtrack.

The movie screened in 30 theatres in Western Canada, and ranked fourth at the box office on opening night in Vancouver, outstripping the likes of Oscar contenders Lincoln and Les Miserables.

At Marketing Magazine’s recent Media Innovation Awards in Toronto the movie captured awards in four categories…

Gold: Best Video
Gold: Best Consumer Engagement
Gold: Branded Content
Gold: Fast Moving Consumer Goods

As one commentator observed, “Labatt (Kokanee) took branded entertainment to the next level with the beer label’s crazy cast of familiar characters in a feature movie. The Movie Out Here, won’t win Oscars, but it won fan approval and lots of advertising awards.”

Though the movie has racked up a whack of awards, it also raised the hackles of some movie reviewers, with one critic calling it a “foul-mouthed abomination.”  But as a 90-minute marketing vehicle it was hit, with Kokanee reporting a 6% increase in market share by the end of the nine-month campaign.

Creston's Kokanee Brewery in the valley's largest employer with approximately 150 workers.