Strongbow, the UK’s leading cider brand, celebrates its Herefordshire roots and ‘bittersweet nature’ in a scenic new TV advertisement which pays homage to the farmers who grow the one billion British cider apples that go into making the world’s top-selling cider every year.  This is a game changer for the brand as it the first time Strongbow have ever communicated their cider making and quality credentials, reinforcing the fact that quality cider can be farmed on a significant and epic scale. 

The 40 second film, created by St Luke’s, entitled ‘Bittersweet’, which will be aired nationally from July 1st, uses time-lapse photography and a split-screen visual to recreate the Strongbow journey from orchard to pub garden, bracketing images as ‘BITTER’ or ‘SWEET’.

‘Bitter Sweet’ relates the cider making process directly to Strongbow itself - both as a descriptor of its unique dryness and edge, but also championing the tough yet thoroughly rewarding, round- the- clock, work that goes into growing, pressing and producing the cider both by  our farmers and colleagues in Hereford. 

The ad opens with the BITTER half of the screen showing an apple farmer inspecting the shoots of tree saplings as he struggles through thick winter snow. In contrast the SWEET side picture sweeps spectacularly over a lush green landscape on a glorious summer day: as we fly over the brow of a hill, we close in on the same farmer as he strolls in the afternoon sunshine looking with pride at his healthy bittersweet apple trees.

As the ad unfolds, the sequence of images highlights the vagaries of nature and the dedication that Strongbow’s apple farmers show to meet the challenge of growing one billion British cider apples. 

Reflecting on the scenes, the voiceover explains: “The growing and pressing of one billion British cider apples – it’s bittersweet by nature”, as the camera cuts to a gleaming glass of Strongbow on an outside table. Bringing the ad to a close, sunlight blasts through the cider to reveal Strongbow branding on the glass and two iconic arrows ‘thunk’ into the top of the table.

Al Young, Executive Creative Director St Luke’s, said: “We’ve all seen cider ads with apple picking in glorious sunshine. The Bitter Sweet concept allows us to dramatise the tough, relentless  side  of maintaining the  UK’s  best orchards 365 days a year."

Michael Gillane, Cider Brand Director at HEINEKEN, owner of the Strongbow brand, said: “This is the first time Strongbow has ever celebrated its cider making credentials and shows that, by combining the best of traditional methods with modern equipment, we can deliver a beautifully balanced cider with the right amount of bite; and on an epic scale. We’re proud of Strongbow and how we make it; and Bittersweet simply underlines this pride.”