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21st October 2020

ANT’ICIPATING HALLOWEEN – BEST SIPPED IN THE DARK

Hobgoblin, Britain’s third fastest selling premium bottled ale, has been celebrating its 15th year as ‘The Unofficial Beer of Halloween’ – by going further.

Stirred on by the worldwide interest in the Hobgoblin Beer Vermouth of Halloween 2016, a global first with its beer ice cubes of frozen ants, the Goblin has been inspired to think deeper, moving into the territory of gastronomy and the future of the planet.

With Hobgoblin’s four-month advertising campaign, ‘Best Sipped in the Dark’, playing across multiple media channels, the ethically-refreshed Goblin is taking the ‘fly posting’ slice of his campaign to new heights by addressing insects as the protein of the edible future.

  1. For sipping in the dark at home, the Hobgoblin Beer & Bugs Snack Pack, RRP £32, is available online and in time for Halloween.  All four of the Hobgoblin beers are paired to crickets – with 16 cans of Hobgoblin beers, four packs of flavoured crickets, the ‘Best Sipped in the Dark’ eye mask, the Wychwood Brewery 2/3-pint glass and the Goblin’s Beer & Bug matching card.

  1. Over the Halloween weekend, the inaugural Hobgoblin Hobtoberfest will go live aboard a plethora of social media platforms. The virtual fest weekend is set to entertain with live music and a gameshow on zoom giving away cash and beer for a y ear prizes.  A home brew challenge, mixologist-led beer cocktail tutorials, and an ‘extraordinary eating’ session with yet more bugs.

  1. For Halloween Week, Covid permitting, restaurateur James Ramsden will be creating a special insect-rich menu, paired with the four Hobgoblin beers, at his acclaimed restaurant, Pidgin, in London’s Hackney click here to watch Pidgin insect gastronomy . Four insect antipasti will be featuring buffalo worms, grasshoppers and crickets.

Comments from the brewery:

“The Hobgoblin Beer & Bug Snack Pack have been flying from the brewery. Some of our drinkers say that eating insects is just not cricket; but most are bowled over by their nutty taste, their crunch, and their potential as a regular and nutritious food for the future.

“Insects are incredibly high in protein and fibre, low in carbohydrate or sugar, and low in carbon footprint, as they use little water or food or energy compared to other meats (so it’s not just the size of their feet). They use little land and are nutritious foods that we think of wrongly as ’waste’. Since 80% of the world’s population eat them, is it just the word ‘insect’ which needs changing?  After all, honey is in reality ‘bee vomit’ and prawns just ‘sea bugs’; so maybe it’s all in the words.”

Hobgoblin’s four-month August to November campaign is playing across multiple media channels: fly posting, D48s, digital screens, banners, murals, experiential, social media and PR.  All of the Halloween campaign content is hosted on the Hobgoblin website: https://www.wychwood.co.uk

Ends. Oct 2020

EDITORS’ NOTES

Hobgoblin IPA has been voted ‘Best English Style IPA’ in the UK by The World Beer Awards 2020.

Hobgoblin is Britain’s third biggest selling Premium Bottled Ale.

Consumer spending on Halloween has almost doubled since 2013 to become the second biggest drinking occasion after New Year’s Eve, and the third most popular retail event after Easter and Christmas. 77% of millennials spend specifically on Halloween, and it over indexes with females.  49.5 million pints of Hobgoblin has sold in the UK in last 12 months, and during lockdown the beer has delivered phenomenal growth, proving its status as a trusted national brand.

Hobgoblin is considered by many as the original craft beer (MBC Eureka! Survey 2020).

The Hobgoblin Beer & Bugs Snack Pack, RRP £32, is available from the web shop: https://www.wychwood.co.uk/shop/hobgoblin-beer-bugs-snack-pack


Press release from R&R Teamwork on behalf of Hogoblin

For more information, contact rupert@randr.co.uk