Slayer Energy – The Hype-Free Hit
Anti-advertising outdoor campaign for an anti-advertising energy drink.
Slayer Energy is a South African energy drink that hates selling as much as its fans hate being sold to. Founder Denis Vaden gave me complete creative freedom to create a campaign that made Slayer cool, built a cult following, and stayed true to its anti-advertising, community-led DNA.
Anti-ad crowd – pro impact
The campaign took an anti-advertising stance and still landed as one of the most talked-about outdoor campaigns.
The Hype-Free Hit
A single BIG IDEA and tagline threaded through every headline, visual and execution.
Cult brand energy
Turned a sugar-free drink that actually tastes good into a badge of honor for the Slayer community.
“This campaign slapped so hard – it sliced through the noise and lit up the Slayer community.”
Fan feedback from South Africa.
Problem
Create an advertising campaign for a brand – and audience – that are openly anti-advertising. Slayer and its fans hate being sold to and spot a fake a mile away.
Audience
Men and women aged 18-30 into gaming, music, extreme sports and streetwear. Independent, community-led people who reject the mainstream and pride themselves on seeing through hype.
Brief
Make Slayer cool, build a cult following and create content the community actually wants to share – not traditional ads. Death to dull. Sugar free that actually tastes good.
Insight
When your audience is anti-advertising, trying to sound like advertising kills you. But if you call out the industry with them, you earn the right to join the conversation.
Idea
“The Hype-Free Hit” – a BIG IDEA that let us say what the community was thinking, while still selling the drink. Headlines doubled as anti-ad statements and irresistible calls to action.
Execution
Punchy outdoor posters and billboards with bold colour, in-your-face product shots and typography that made the anti-advertising headlines impossible to miss.
Channels
High-impact South African billboards, street posters and social content seeded into Slayer’s gaming, music and alt-culture communities.
Tone
Sassy, street smart and community-building. The work sounded like the people drinking the product, not the marketing department selling it.
Result
The creative sliced through the noise, sparked conversations and helped Slayer show up like a cult brand with attitude and taste – a soda-style hit that kicks like an energy drink.
What it shows
Big ideas win when clients back them. We turned “we hate advertising” from a problem into the engine of the BIG IDEA – and created a campaign this community could genuinely get behind.
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