Young Capital bridges generation gap with energy drink ‘donated’ by Gen Z

Directed by HAMLET’s Angelo Cerisara, the surreal campaign encourages Gen Z-ers to ‘Boost Your Boomer’ with an invigorating beverage

Of all the challenges associated with modern workplaces, the generation gap is one of the biggest. With their boundless energy and digital nous, it’s no surprise that Gen Z can get frustrated with the slower pace of their older colleagues. But a new campaign for recruitment agency Young Capital – Boost Your Boomer – presents a surreal solution to power up boomers’ productivity and restore intergenerational harmony in the office: a new energy drink derived from Gen Z’s donated bodily fluids. 

The tongue-in-cheek campaign was created by Amsterdam-based agency ACE to promote Young Capital’s limited-edition energy beverage, BOOOMER – a real product (albeit featuring more conventional ingredients), as part of the job agency’s vision to go beyond traditional brand awareness campaigns. 

Boost Your Boomer is led by a surreal 80-second spot, stylishly directed by HAMLET’s Angelo Cerisara, which imagines the drink’s rather gruesome origins – as well as its potential to unite two generations – with a blend of body-horror and deadpan comedy.   

The action opens on a dystopian underground lab, where futuristically-clad youngsters are hooked up to drips, siphoning off fluorescent liquid from their own arms to be canned and distributed as the official BOOOMER energy drink. As middle-aged office workers glug down the beverage, its invigorating effects soon become clear: powering boomers to keep up with their Zoomer colleagues in ever-crazier situations, culminating in an office rave and the tagline ‘Work needs new energy’. 

Set to a pulsing techno soundtrack to match the pace and energy of the edit, the film is a comic reflection of the frustrations and frictions of cross-generational working – as well as a reminder to Young Capital’s Gen Z audience that boomer colleagues need a little help. 

This campaign reaffirms YoungCapital’s position as the ally to young talent at work.

Deni Barisic, Head of Brands at YoungCapital said: “Every generation complains about young people, but in my nine years at YoungCapital, I’ve never seen it happen as much as I do now. The idea that young people don’t want to work is really nonsense. Of course, this generation views work differently – the world has changed drastically for them. For example, where you could once buy a house on a single salary, these days starters struggle even with two average incomes. This forces young people to view work differently, and they are working more than ever. With this campaign, we give that young energy a stage – a positive counter-narrative to all the complaining”.

Rogier de Bruin, Executive Creative Director at ACE, commented: “I have been working with YoungCapital for nearly eight years, and I love that we are always pushing boundaries. This campaign marks a new phase for the brand, as we are using original products and services to make an impact. For BOOOMer Energy Drink, young people donate their energy to help older people keep up a bit. It’s a drink for the workplace designed to encourage better cooperation. There is only one youth employment agency in the Netherlands that could pull this off”.

Angelo Cerisara, Director, HAMLET added: “Finding the right tone of voice for an idea like this means finding the sweet spot between fashion, awkwardness, horror and coolness. Those are not often vibes that coexist in the same film. So it made sense to go for a Y2K Cronenbergian fashion techno musical. Big shoutout to the ACE creatives for letting me dive into something so unconventional and exciting. I’ve loved every second of it!”

The campaign will run across social media channels, print, outdoor, including an influencer campaign in The Netherlands. As part of the campaign, 150,000 ‘Gen Z infused’ BOOOMer Energy Drink cans have been produced.

Credits

Client: Young Capital

Title: Boost Your Boomer

Agency: ACE

Executive Creative Director:Rogier De Bruin

Creative Team: Pia Mader, Koen de Boer, Rogier Smalhout

Design: Vincent Sapthu, Tova Andersson, Pepijn Zuiderveld

Strategy: Harm Balvers, Jhelisa Panfred

Account Lead:Max de Vries

Agency Producer: Marga Bierema

Project Lead: Judith Kampman

Social Creative: Mitzi Wiebring, Thom Knobel

Social Content Producer: Sjoerd Joosten

Social Edits: Maarten Valstar

Motion: Bas Mooij, Lennard Nijenhuis

PR: Finn Dekker, Simone Slagboom

Production Company: HAMLET

Director: Angelo Cerisara

Photographer: Stig De Block

Executive Producers: Ruben Goots, Jason Felstead,Mathias Kerner

Producer: Jeroen Berx

Post-Producer: Basile van der Straten

Director of Photography: Zack Spiger

Casting Director: Louis Pons

Casting Agency: Le Quartier

Styling:Diana Theys & Naomi Noo, Farah El Bastani

Make-up:Madonna Iremashvili

Production Design: Birch

Editor: Chris Coupland

Editing Company: Shift

Color Grader: Tim Smith @ Rascal London

Photo Retouche: Sebastien Galtier

Graphic Motion design: Bas Mooij

Music: Xavier Andrew

Sound Design: Gregory Caron

Sound Post-Production: Niels den Otter @Audentity

VFX Company: Astro Pirata

Image Post-Production Cy: Frames

Online Editor: Lieven Dooms, Robin Depraeter

Source: HAMLET

  Ace, BOOOMer Energy Drink, Boost Your Boomer, Deni Barisic, HAMLET, Rogier de Bruin, Young Capital