Tiger Beer looks to uncage Malaysia's creative side

Tiger Beer has released a short film “Coaster” in conjunction with its launch of Tiger White in Malaysia.Coaster is the first-ever film to be conceptualised, crowd-sourced and produced by consumers using beer coasters. The beer company had initiated the ‘It all starts with White’ platform to give beer drinkers the chance to be part of a major creative production.According Mei-Leng Wong, global brand director at Tiger Beer, the beer maker wanted to inspire  the Malaysian public and give them an opportunity to get involved in a creative project. The company also intends to enter the film into film festivals in 2016, she added.“The campaign underpins Tiger White Beer’s brand belief, ‘It all starts with white’ - the best ideas start from a clean, white slate,” Wong said. A suspense-packed thriller, the film centres on the adventures of a young chef who is asked to cook for the same mobster that murdered his father 18 years before.International director Baltasar Kormákur came on board for the production of the film, serving as mentor and guide to the budding filmmakers.https://youtu.be/pdE_3U19kmM“For the film, the beer coasters our drinkers use everyday represent that clean white canvas. And these were used to ask the public to get involved in making this film, everything from coming up with the storyline to applying to be the on set runner,“ Wong explained in a statement to Marketing. Keeping in line with its brand belief, Tiger White’s advertising aims to convey the message that anybody can create anything they want, if they have the courage to start with a bold, first step.“We drafted regular bar hoppers and transformed them overnight into filmmakers, with white beer coasters serving as mini-screenplays, storyboards and entry forms. Malaysian consumers are extremely savvy and creative, and we were excited to launch this contest in such a receptive, dynamic market,” Wong said.Tiger Beer partnered with Droga5 Advertising in Australia to conceptualise the Coaster campaign.David Nobay, previously creative chairman of Droga5 Australia who was an integral part of the campaign said: “One thing really came through to us…just how much creativity is alive and kicking on the streets; from Ho Chi Min to Hong Kong and Singapore.""From fashion to technology, the region feels even more on fire right now. We were keen to put all that urgency and spontaneity to work across a single creative platform and we’re really pleased how quickly Malaysia grabbed the baton - first with the launch of Tiger White, and now through the debut of the world’s first film to be created on coasters."The creative production of CoasterThe Coaster filmmaking contest took place through October and November when thousands of coasters were distributed around Malaysia’s most popular bars. The coasters served as entry forms for the public and creatively-inclined participants, and online entries were also submitted through TigerCoasterFilm.com.The winning participants were assigned a wide variety of roles including director, scriptwriters, actors, stylists, assistants, and even runners for the production of Coaster.“I was invited by Tiger to take on a mentoring role in this film and I’m a big believer that you can achieve anything you want regardless of where you come from – whether it’s Iceland or Malaysia. If you dream big, you can achieve big. I’ve had to scale mountains and even swim in the North Atlantic Ocean for my other movies, but this is my first time to recruit people to make a film from beer coasters,” said international director, Kormákur.Wong said, “We were overwhelmed by the tremendous response to our project. It’s heartening to see that today’s generation isn’t bound by traditional rules and they’re courageous enough to test new experiences.”The 14-minute movie premiered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 19 December 2015. Coaster also made its online debut on the website TigerCoasterFilm.com and it available for viewing to anyone above 18 years of age. Tiger White was introduced in Malaysia in November 2015.