Kiwis first in the world to fuel their cars with DB Export’s Brewtroleum via Colenso BBDO, NZ
New Zealanders today became the first in the world to power their cars with commercially available biofuel, made from the by-product of beer. ‘DB Export Brewtroleum’, a concept via Colenso BBDO NZ, was unveiled at Gull Kingsland in Auckland and hundreds of customers were invited to fuel up* to mark the launch.
Following extensive testing and research, DB Export is the first company to make beer-derived biofuel commercially available, and has produced an initial 30,000 litres of ethanol that has been mixed with premium petrol to make 300,000L of biofuel which will be sold at 60 Gull petrol stations across the North Island from today.
Made using ethanol derived after brewing DB Export, Brewtroleum emits 8% less carbon than traditional petroleum and delivers the same performance when compared. This means every time someone drinks DB Export they’re helping to create an environmentally-friendly biofuel that can be used in most engines that run on petrol.
DB head of domestic beer marketing, Sean O’Donnell, said, like many great Kiwi inventions, DB Export Brewtroleum was an idea sparked over a few beers.
Says O’Donnell: “This is a genuinely exciting opportunity. It’s a world first, we’re helping Kiwis save the world by doing what they enjoy best – drinking beer. We saw the opportunity to take the natural by-product of the brewing process and turn it into something that can genuinely help the environment. To now be selling it through a major petrol retailer like Gull shows the power of not just having smart ideas but turning them into reality.
“We’d love to see DB Export Brewtroleum become a long-term offering; it’s a case of testing consumer demand and assessing the feasibility of ongoing production and logistics. We expect the first batch to last approximately six weeks.”
As New Zealand’s leading biofuel provider, O’Donnell says Gull New Zealand was the obvious partner for DB Export to take Brewtroleum to consumers.
David Bodger, general manager of Gull New Zealand, says Gull was more than happy to help make DB Export’s idea a reality.
Says Bodger: “We’ve been making biofuels since 2007 and are always keen to help out anyone interested in producing cleaner fuel. We applaud DB Export for showing a bit of Kiwi ingenuity – it just goes to show how many opportunities are out there to make viable biofuels and help the environment. We’re excited to help Kiwi motorists make a unique and environmentally-friendly choice via dedicated DB Export Brewtroleum pumps at our petrol stations.”
DB Export Brewtroleum is the first in a series of ingenious “ideas over beers” that DB Export will roll out in the coming months as part of its “Made by Doing” campaign.
(Pictured: Green MP Gareth Hughes fills first car)
15 Comments
Match made in heaven, great tie up.
So now when I think of DB I think of petrol, science aside is that the association you want?
http://www.cnet.com/news/brewer-to-turn-beer-suds-into-car-fuel/
I’d rather drink petrol than DB anyway.
Good god people!
Are we maybe over-thinking the ‘association’ a tad? Not every idea (or innovation) has to be 100% ‘on brand’. Should they just have said, “well, we can make beer waste into petrol, but hang on, some hipster might not like the ‘association’, so fuck it let’s just find some landfill for this…”?
And SO what if it’s been done before? What’s also been done before are spiteful comments from ad wankers who can’t wait to google the shit out of every article/idea so they can give themselves a self-esteem boost on an industry blog.
Imagine if the only things that ever got produced were things that had ‘never been done before’. We’d all be out of jobs quite fast…
Do you also claim that work that has been done before as a “First in the World?” No?
been done before and name not optional, you obviously didn’t read either press release. The world first bit is that it’s commercially available to the public via a regular gas station. It’s not some prototype being tested on a company’s own vehicles. Why not celebrate the fact that both client and agency are thinking outside the box when it comes to getting attention for a brand? It’s not illegal to like an idea out of Colenso by the way. And no I don’t work there (any more), nor do I work at db.
Right, so they came up with a name for a product that someone else thought of and created? Fair enough, that’s something that ad agencies do. And the name is okay.
I wonder if they will do a case-study (entry) video of it that implies that the industrial chemists at Colenso came up with the idea? That is also something that ad agencies do these days.
Everyone is missing the point. This is just a campaign that gives guys an excuse to sink heaps of piss. People might have made biofuel out of beer waste before but none of them have thought to use it as a marketing play. Drink beer, save the world. It’s fucking great.
Colenso have done some great Export Ads. Not sure about the one with the dog but this is as good as the 33 one. I’m off to shape the future and sink some piss.
Irresponsible, maybe not. Doesn’t look like anyones drinking the bio fuel.
Might have navigated their way through the codes pretty well here.
Will it make me drink more DB, no.
… Beer ads when they were funny.
Great marketing gimmick and all that. Huge concern over social responsibly though.. the positioning “drink beer to save the world” has the potential to do great things for our binge drinking culture. Forget recycling, just buy a 12 pack and get on the waste. Easy.
Sounds like progress to me, though like others have mentioned possibly a gimmick. I was wondering if supermarket fuel vouchers and discount days mentioned here – http://goingnz.com/living-in-new-zealand/cheap-petrol-and-diesel-in-new-zealand/ will apply to the bio fuel?