The Windup
In 2023, Major League Baseball just implemented its biggest-ever rule change – the pitch clock – which dramatically sped up the action and shortened games by nearly 30 minutes. The innovation was a big hit for baseball, but Bally Sports noticed a key part of baseball watching was being overlooked: the beer! After all, who’s got time to drink big ol’ “tall boys” while the pitch clock’s tickin’? Shorter games call for shorter beers.
The Pitch
Introducing Bally Sports Short Boys: stubby little 8.4 oz cans of summer refreshment perfect for today’s shorter ball games. First, we launched the idea with a jingle-tastic commercial featuring Hall of Fame tall boy Randy Johnson. Then, we partnered with microbreweries nationwide to brew Short Boys and get them into the hands of fans in key markets. Long story short: Bally Sports Short Boys were a huge hit, selling out quicker than you can say Cheers to #ShortBoySummer!
Short Boys, Tall Randy
The most important part of creating the Bally Sports Short Boys campaign was, you know, actually brewing the beer! So we partnered with five local breweries in key baseball cities, and gave them the tall order of producing their shortest beers yet.
In addition to Randy Johnson, we brought content creators like Jomboy Media, Lauren Burke, and @MLBmini onto our team to help spread the word about #ShortBoySummer. We even created a line of “cut here” merch that had influencers and fans drinking Short Boys from short koozies while wearing short shirts.
#ShortBoySummer
