Behind the scenes as Tennent’s tries to make Scotland fans believe again

Given our observe document, what I’m anticipating to see play out on set is a joke, a wink and a weary ‘It’s shite being Scottish,’ adopted by an inevitable ‘Och properly, possibly subsequent time.’ Perhaps even a contact of condescension – ‘Wee garbage Scotland, fortunate simply to be there.’ To be honest, I’d watched the qualifying marketing campaign via half-closed eyes whereas Fifa steadily expanded the World Cup from a event for the easiest nations into one which now contains virtually everybody besides North Korea, the 2 Irelands and Wales.

It’s protected to say that, after 28 years of distress, I’m on the defensive and able to rip this marketing campaign aside after they ask what I feel. Nothing may reside as much as the emotional burden this event carries. 

‘Time to Dream’

The very first thing to say about ‘Time to Dream’ (which launched immediately) is that it’s surprisingly honest. The movie is stirring with out tipping into sentimentality, grounded by McCann’s gravelly monologue inside a meticulously dressed Glasgow pub that shifts via time from 1998 to the current day.

Round him, the pub turns into a vessel for reminiscence, heartbreak and, tentatively, perception as he raises a pint to Scotland followers who’ve spent many years ready for moments like this. The road that anchors the marketing campaign feels virtually reckless to anybody raised on event trauma: “We aren’t able to get up but.”

Hazel Alexander, senior model supervisor for Tennent’s, tells me that the inventive was formed by the thrill the crew felt on that relatively emotional day Scotland certified. “From the second that aim went in, the sheer euphoria and feeling of ‘we did it’ was overwhelming. We knew we needed to seize this and, as a model, present that we’re there with the followers – with the fervour and pleasure ignited in us.”

I used to be a bit late to the joy social gathering, however I’m virtually there now. After 28 years, the nation is being invited to dream in public. For individuals who bear in mind France 98 – or inherited the emotional baggage of it from older kin – that invitation nonetheless comes with a way of hazard.

Alexander is aware of Tennent’s has lived alongside that suspicion for many years. The model, she says, has been “a Scotland fan for many years,” there “via all of it, together with the tears and the lengthy walks house.”

That historical past offers the marketing campaign its authority. Tennent’s just isn’t chatting with followers from the surface; it’s talking from throughout the ritual itself: the pint earlier than kick-off, the pub after the ultimate whistle, the shared dread and the cussed reappearance of perception.

Alexander says the crew started enthusiastic about summer season 2026 on the finish of final 12 months, earlier than qualification had even been secured. The model had already gambled on the emotional scale of the second. It simply so occurred that qualification arrived in circumstances that raised the stakes even additional – a McTominay volley and a aim from the midway line… very un-Scottish behaviors, these. 

The ensuing marketing campaign, she says, wanted to really feel “large and daring,” celebrating each the crew’s journey and the one supporters had been on alongside them. That sense of collective reminiscence sits on the coronary heart of the work.

The Rose Reilly offers that reminiscence a becoming house. Sam Muir, a inventive at Leith, says the Glasgow pub had “an important, timeless appear and feel” in addition to a direct hyperlink to Scottish soccer historical past via Rose Reilly herself, “a pioneer of the ladies’s sport.”

Muir says the movie needed to really feel “large, epic and rousing” – an advert “befitting of the event” that would carry followers from “the frustration of 98 to now.” The pub turns into the engine for that journey. As McCann delivers his monologue, the room shifts via time, the late 90s giving option to now. The group turns into a dwelling timeline, turning Scotland’s return to the World Cup into one thing felt and remembered relatively than merely introduced in a sports activities headline. Eagle-eyed viewers may even spot what quantities to a museum’s value of Tennent’s memorabilia and Scottish soccer ephemera littered in regards to the pub.

Tennent’s has earned the fitting to inform that story, having supported the nationwide crew in some type or one other since 1974 (again after we have been fairly good), with Alexander describing nationwide delight as a part of the brewer’s DNA: “stubbornly constructive,” “proudly genuine” and at all times “up for fun.”

The casting of McCann offers the movie a lot of its heft. Alexander says Tennent’s wished somebody with “immediate credibility” who may ship a rousing tackle to the nation with out tipping into parody. McCann brings a straight-talking heat that retains the movie grounded. As Alexander places it, he can carry perception, grit and a realizing smile unexpectedly. Or as Muir tells me: “He’s received nice stature and seems like a fan speaking from the center.”

On set, he offers the manufacturing lots to work with. Throughout a break, McCann appears on the beer in entrance of him and says, “That’s a superb pint that.” I don’t suppose he is aware of he was being watched. 

At The Rose Reilly, the manufacturing is exacting. Outdoors, the manufacturing tent virtually blows away within the Glasgow climate. Inside, the room strikes on the tempo of a movie set, chasing precision. The timing of McCann’s monologue is argued over and tightened, take by take. Pans are debated. Extras moved out and in. One poor soul is lower to avoid wasting half a second. 

Muir says the most important technical problem is lighting. The movie wants to start darkish and steadily get lighter. Music works in the identical course. Each the sound and lighting, he says, are designed to start “darkish and moody” earlier than lifting to “a giant crescendo.”

The background forged carries plenty of that emotional construct. Muir says directing them fastidiously is important as a result of they’re “integral to displaying the frustration of the followers that then turned to pleasure.” On set, which means plenty of our bodies, reactions and timing being moved into place. Within the completed movie, it offers McCann’s speech a dwelling viewers. 

Then there may be the pint. The hero shot was filmed repeatedly, with a Tennent’s stylist named Stevie refreshing the lager between virtually each take. He guards the glow of the glass like it’s a sacred object. I by no means really received to satisfy Stevie, however I actually have respect for his craft, having consumed extra Tennent’s over time than I’m prepared to confess right here.

Lunch brings its personal quietly surreal interlude. The manufacturing crosses the highway to a close-by mosque, the place forged and crew eat alongside extras in retro Scotland tops who’re understandably cautious to not spill something on their shirts. I’ve fewer considerations about my very own garments, although I’m barely extra anxious about staining the impossibly thick carpet whereas our sneakers relaxation on the entrance door. 

It seems like an odd pause in the midst of a fastidiously staged Scottish soccer dream. On the way in which out, I additionally catch sight of what I assume are Rory McCann’s sneakers, them being so large.

An hour later, again inside The Rose Reilly, I watch McCann growl his method via the monologue once more and discover myself slowly letting go of my cynicism. In opposition to my higher judgment, I’m beginning to imagine a bit. I had promised myself I wouldn’t let that occur. 

The broader marketing campaign

Alexander says the marketing campaign speaks to “all of Scotland”: the Tartan Military, the touring supporters, the followers with tickets, those with out, these in pubs and people watching from house. 

There’s additionally the logistical chaos of a North American World Cup to take care of. Alexander factors to the late kick-offs, the overlap with music festivals and the fact of nonetheless having work the following morning. That, she says, is precisely the place Tennent’s expects to reside through the event: in pubs, dwelling rooms, airports and late-night gatherings throughout the nation. I’m at the moment attempting to resolve whether or not I’ll head to the pub for a 2am kick-off, watch from mattress or just document the match for the morning. I’m certain these unpredictable viewing habits are giving plenty of media consumers plenty of complications proper now.

The marketing campaign itself will run throughout cinema, VOD, social and TV, supported by nationwide OOH, airport executions, squad-departure content material, reactive work and a limited-edition retro shirt. The media combine offers Tennent’s room to differ the tone. 

Alexander describes the hero TV inventive as “confident and stubbornly constructive,” with the model behaving like “a realist” that “wears confidence with a unclean nice smile,” whereas the OOH has “quick-witted humor at its coronary heart,” bringing what she calls “much-needed aid within the seriousness of the sport.” (There’s that humor I used to be anticipating.)

That break up feels proper. The movie carries the emotion, the broader marketing campaign lets Scotland snicker, breathe and brace itself.

For Tennent’s, the marketing campaign alerts a wider model course. Alexander says ‘Time to Dream’ reinforces ‘Raised in Scotland’ as a lifestyle, an perspective and an identification. The broader marketing campaign brings in humor, cultural relevance and fame. She additionally factors to innovation, from Tennent’s Pilsner to Tennent’s Tops, as a part of the model’s push to herald new drinkers and broaden enchantment.

Alexander says the true measure of its success will come years from now, on the subsequent World Cup or perhaps a decade down the road, when folks look again and say: “Bear in mind when Tennent’s…” 

That’s an bold benchmark. The marketing campaign is attaching itself to a nationwide reminiscence that doesn’t but exist and, given Scotland’s historical past, might by no means.

For now although, Scotland has its dream again. And Tennent’s has positioned itself because the model that may sit alongside no matter recollections comply with – whether or not they prove superb or, extra seemingly, devastating.