Embrace the hate / Malört makes regular use of polarising tactics in communications – it’s a brand that fully embraces the ‘love it, or hate it’ Marmite factor. In a 2024 campaign it used self-deprecating humour to draw attention to the drink’s challenging flavour and it also launched a hard candy product called Malört Sucks.
Tastes Like is consistent with this approach because it utilises the pratfall effect, reframing a perceived weakness to turn it around into a strength or selling point for the brand. The drink is viewed as a dive bar shot, often sunk as a dare and with a significant appeal to social groups. Its challenging taste is a product benefit in this context.
The campaign uses polarising tactics as a direct provocation to consumer action and then weaponises drinkers to spread the brand’s message across social channels.
And the distinct stages of audience participation deliver at least three hits of awareness through the campaign launch, social competition and then the appearance of the new descriptions on shelves.
Our Creative Tactic explores how brands use polarising ‘love/hate’ tactics in their campaigns to galvanise audiences and show what they stand for.
Distinctive disgust / The campaign is designed to create social media buzz and media interest based on the unusual sight of a brand revelling in its reputation for evoking disgust among consumers.
The play on disgust also makes the brand feel distinctive because it takes an alternative path to the responsible or sophisticated messaging deployed by many spirits products. And Malört’s commitment to distinctiveness is expressed in new packaging that achieves stand-out in bars and liquor store aisles (something it has in common with Liquid Death in the water category).
Malört’s willingness to shock consumers is also good for business in bars, prompting drinkers to ask, ‘does it really taste that bad?’ before buying a round of shots to decide. It also works because provocation is authentic to the spirit of the brand, which leverages its working-class dive bar origins as an alternative to the elaborate mixology that is influencing US bar culture (mixed drinks account for 34% of total spirits value through on-trade, according to BeverageTrak).
Moreover, distinctiveness is a big asset to Malört as it expands well beyond roots in Chicago and the Midwest (it’s now sold in a majority of US states) because it will jolt new drinkers into trial, while reminding battle hardened barflys that this is the natural shot for them.
