Drugi jezik na kojem je dostupan ovaj članak: Bosnian
The new campaign of Ožujsko beer, “We Stay Where We Are”, was presented at the Luda Kuća Theater (Mad House). In all of its campaigns, Ožujsko works with the topics that are important to Croatia, pointing out good and positive examples. With the new campaign “We Stay Where We Are,” Ožujsko recalls the journey that our ancestors took in order to get to where we are, and points out the reasons how and why they found their fortune right here.
Presenting the campaign, Ivan Šuvar, director of marketing and brand excellence at Zagrebačka Pivovara, said: “Žuja has always worked with the current topics in our society, in its own, special and fun way. Our focus is on friendship, fun and pride. We are proud of our country, its specifics and everything that makes us unique. That is what we are trying to emphasize through our communication. The richness of our language, our culture, our phenomena that we pointed out in some of the spots. This ad is a result of top production and is very fun. We want to send a message that we have gone a long way to come to this beautiful piece of land we have, and that we are here to stay. We hope to once again delight all those who see our spot.”
The creative director of the campaign is Almir Okanović of BBDO fame, who said: “We wanted to make a campaign that is completely different in motifs and execution, but still relevant and current. In all of the campaigns we create for Ožujsko, we want to touch on topics that are important to Croatia and its people. These are topics that are of interest to everyone, regardless of their educational, economic or cultural status, regardless of whether they live in Dalmatia or Zagreb, regardless of whether they come from a town or a village. In recent years, one of the most important issues is certainly the economic migration of our people abroad, especially those young, persistent and ambitious. In short, those who are most valuable in economic terms. Without going into the rational reasons why people leave the country, and without trying to give rational reasons why they should stay, we wanted to say that, in spite of all the problems we are facing, in spite of all the negatives, the destiny of our people is inextricably linked to this land. At the same time, we wanted to point out the need for even stronger and more vocal public debates, so everyone could get involved in solving this burning issue. We came up with the idea and scenario by thinking about our ancestors who, during the Great Migration, 1400 years ago, started a long and uncertain journey to the south. We were also interested in how the old Slavs even agreed who would go to the north, who to the west, who to the east, and who to the south. Therefore, we have also offered an alternative theory, that will surely bring some mess in the discussions of our historians. Of course, we did it all in a wacky, fun and humorous spirit of Ožujsko.”
The entire filming of the video was very demanding. Director Bruno Anković revealed that the ad was filmed on several remote locations, with a large team and a number of extras, and even a small 7th century village was built. “In terms of production, this was one of the most demanding and most serious ads filmed here for a domestic brand. For example, the locations were quite far from urban centers, part of the team started their work days around 01.00hrs. Extras and actors came to the set so early so that the makeup and costume crews could ‘transport’ them to the 7th century and prepare them for the shooting at dawn,” Ankovic said, adding that while researching the migration of people, the team realized that they travelled with animals. “They travelled with sheep among other things, and they had a multifaceted purpose – they were not just food, but fur used for clothing, milk for drinking, etc. And so at every location where we filmed we had a big herd of sheep. But the sheep didn’t want to stand in the picture. We would set up the camera, we make a check run and everything is fine, but as soon as we run the camera, the sheep roam away from the scene. They would be nice and obedient up to that moment, but as soon as the camera starts rolling they quickly run out of the frame. We set it all up again, and the sheep stop at the edge of the frame. And on and on, countless times, every day, everywhere. In the end, there are no sheep in the ads, but there were hundreds of them on the set,” said Anković.
Many celebrities attended the presentation of the new campaign of Ožujsko, led by the stars of the campaign Goran Navojec, Goran Bogdan and Rene Bitorajac, and the campaign also impressed: Ivan Šarić, Branko Đurić Đura, Luka Vidović, Matija Cvek, Alen Đuras, Petra Dugandžić, Csilla Barath Bastaić, Iskra Jirsak, Ante Pecotić, Darko Janeš, Tibor Karamehmedović and many others.
Cody McClain Brown, a lecturer at the Faculty of Political Science in Zagreb and author of the book “Propuh, papuča i punica”, was also at the premiere of the campaign. Cody calls himself a “Croatian son-in-law”, and in his book he described the story of his transformation from a “stranger” to a “son-in-law”. He became famous after sharing the amusing views of an American on Croatian ‘customs’, such as the obsession with the draft and the specific rules in relations with one’s mother-in-law.