80s-style at heart of shandy campaign

The BitterSweet Partnership is mounting an '80s-in-spired campaign to revive shandy this summer.

The Molson Coors business unit, which is aimed at persuading women to drink more beer, has launched the retro-styled I ? Shandy campaign following research which found women liked shandy but were often too embarrassed to be seen drinking it.

The survey indicated that 35% of women think shandy is a great summer drink and more than one in 10 admitted they would like to drink it more often.

"We've talked to over 2,000 women as part of our research and what came out was, that on the occasions when women were choosing a beer they were adding something to it — a splash of lemonade or lime cordial for example," said commercial communications partner Kristy McCready.

"It's like there's a secret shandy society out there and we thought why not push this fruity, refreshing serve as an ideal way to get more women to try beer?"

The campaign kicked off with an I ? Shandy bar at the Secret Garden Party

festival in Cambridgeshire at the end of July.

The next step of the campaign is a tie-up with London celebrity haunt the Kanaloa bar. Four new shandy-inspired drinks have been created, which will be served at the venue until 27 August.

The drinks comprise Shandy Blush, made with raspberry juice, ginger ale & Kasteel Cru Rose beer, Shandy Sour, made with lime, sugar, lemonade & lager, Cherry Shandy with Kasteel Cru mixed with cherries, lemonade, lemon juice and sugar syrup, and Classic Shandy, made by mixing wheat beer, lemonade & fruit.

An I ? Shandy Facebook page has been set up and features shandy recipes and '80s-inspired fun.

"We're celebrating the '80s and taking female consumers back to the days of power suits, poodle perms and sweatbands to ignite a shandy renaissance," McCready said.