Q Mixers Campaign Can’t Fix Most Pressing Problems, But Can Fix Your Cocktail

Your crackpot uncle’s bizarre rants. Hordes of tourists clogging the ski slopes. That mounting feeling of existential dread. Whatever is getting under your skin during the stressful holidays or generally overwhelming times we live in, rest assured that Q Mixers can’t do a single thing to fix it.

But they can fix your cocktail.

That’s the gist of 'Q It Up,' a new campaign for the premium cocktail mixer brand and their first produced in partnership with Cornett, a full-service agency in Lexington, Kentucky. Cornett won the business after a competitive pitch last spring.

With significant OOH placements in San Francisco, Chicago, and Denver - plus three popular Colorado ski resorts (Copper Mountain, Breckenridge, and Keystone) - the 'Q It Up' campaign takes aim at market-specific annoyances with bold headlines and polished photography.

“We can’t fix these nightmare intersections,” says a wallscape at one of Chicago’s notoriously chaotic six-way junctions, “but we can fix your cocktail.”

A Denver placement reads, “We can’t fix the incoming gaggle of Jerrys but we can fix your cocktail,” a reference to the onslaught of clueless skiers during the winter months.  

Similar digital ads will run on social media throughout the roughly three-month campaign.

“The ‘Q It Up’ campaign showcases our ethos - we take good drinks and moments that matter seriously, but never ourselves,” stated Jocelyn Hurley, brand marketing director at Q Mixers. “Also, it helps crystallise the benefit of Q Mixers in a relatable way. And lastly, like Q, the campaign is endlessly riffable. It can apply to so many occasions. The Cornett team really nailed it. They’re fantastic partners.” 

In addition, Cornett produced a series of four live-action digital videos that’s sure to elicit sympathetic laughs from anyone who’s attended an awkward family gathering during the holidays. Dubbed 'Dinner with the Unfixables,' the spots feature a cast of quirky relatable characters - a crackpot uncle, a gold-digging step-grandma, a tech-bro cousin, and a hot mess aunt - each doing their part to stress out an exasperated hostess who nevertheless survives in style thanks to elevated cocktails compliments of Q Mixers. The spots will run on social media with paid support.  

“Existential dread, unhinged family members, inflation, logjam traffic, impending robot overlords…they’re not really in Q Mixers’ lane to fix. But easy, quality cocktails? They’re really, really good at that,” said Jason Majewski, creative director at Cornett. “So we just leaned into that simple idea and had a lot of fun with it.”