Cointreau Unveils “Love Letter” Encouraging Consumers to Support Their Favorite Local Restaurants and Bars in First-Ever Big Game Campaign

A Collaboration with The Independent Restaurant Coalition, the Campaign Spotlights Real Industry Workers Affected by the Pandemic.

Learn More At www.Cointreau.com/SaveRestaurants

NEW YORK--()--Cointreau, the premium French liqueur housed within the Rémy Cointreau brand portfolio, announces the launch of “Love Letter” a national television and digital campaign leading up to the Big Game, designed to raise awareness on the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on local restaurant and bar workers. With this campaign, Cointreau is lending its microphone to the hospitality industry and encouraging all Americans to take action and support their local bars & restaurants.

Created in collaboration with the Independent Restaurant Coalition (IRC), Cointreau’s “Love Letter” was created for the industry, by the industry. Produced by creative agency Intuitive Content founded by four-time James Beard award-winning TV personality, chef and IRC co-founder Andrew Zimmern, the campaign spotlights real restaurant and bar staff who have been impacted by the pandemic.

The thirty second spot will encourage game-day viewers to visit cointreau.com/saverestaurants to share a simple “Thank You” or a heartfelt “See You Soon” on social media, tagging their favorite bar or restaurant with hashtag #SaveRestaurants. More than just encouraging words, these “Love Letters” will raise awareness of the plight these small businesses continue to face.

More than one in six restaurants and bars have shut their doors since the pandemic began nearly a year ago, and up to 85 percent risk closing permanently. Temporary and permanent closures have left over 2.4 million people who work in restaurants and bars without a job, including over 370,000 who lost their jobs this past December.

“The global pandemic has threatened the family of restaurants, bars and industry partners that help create the exceptional moments and experiences customers hold near and dear when they order a Cointreau cocktail. We’re taking this opportunity to amplify their voices during one of the biggest moments of the year with our emotionally-charged ‘Love Letter,’ an authentic testament to the industry we love and are committed to see thrive again,” said Ian McLernon, President and CEO at Rémy Cointreau Americas. “Our on-premise partners have given Cointreau so much, and we want to do our part to show our support. We are thrilled to work alongside the Independent Restaurant Coalition to keep restaurants from disappearing forever.”

The premiere of “Love Letter” marks a continuation of Cointreau’s aid for local bars and restaurants nationwide as the long road to recovery continues. As a brand that takes the company values of People, Terroir and Time to heart and has always valued the important role local bars and restaurants have played in its 170-year-old heritage, Cointreau took immediate action at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic through the support of United States Bartenders’ Guide (USBG) and other immediate relief funds along with its ongoing support of the IRC.

“People cannot wait to go back to their favorite restaurants and bars when it's safe to do so, but there’s no guarantee the people who make those places special will be around,” said Andrew Zimmern, Founding Member of the Independent Restaurant Coalition. “We are grateful for the national platform Cointreau has provided and hope this kick-starts a national conversation on the challenges facing the creative and dedicated people who face innumerable challenges navigating the pandemic.”

To share your love letter and learn more about how you can support the IRC visit cointreau.com/saverestaurants.

Cointreau’s Big Game spot will run in 15 key regional markets nationwide, Connected TV and on digital across YouTube and organic and paid owned social channels. Cointreau chose markets hardest hit by COVID-19 pandemic including Boston, Chicago, Columbus, Denver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco.

Production: Intuitive Content
Media Agency: Media Hub

About Cointreau:

Cointreau is the iconic orange liqueur at the heart of more than 500 of the world’s most celebrated cocktails, including The Original Margarita, The Cosmopolitan, and The Sidecar. The House of Cointreau was founded in 1849 in Angers, France, where Edouard Cointreau perfected the recipe. Blended with sweet and bitter orange peels, Cointreau has a unique, balanced flavor beloved by mixologists and bartenders worldwide.

To learn more about Cointreau, visit www.cointreau.com or follow Cointreau on Instagram/Twitter via @Cointreau_US or Facebook via @cointreauUS.

About Rémy Cointreau:

All around the world, there are clients seeking exceptional experiences; clients for whom a wide range of terroirs means a variety of flavors. Their exacting standards are proportional to our expertise – the finely-honed skills that we pass down from generation to generation. The time these clients devote to drinking our products is a tribute to all those who have worked to develop them. It is for these men and women that Rémy Cointreau, a family-owned French Group, protects its terroirs, cultivates exceptional multi-centenary spirits and undertakes to preserve their eternal modernity. The Group’s portfolio includes high-end and singular brands, such as the Rémy Martin and Louis XIII cognacs, and Cointreau liqueur. Rémy Cointreau has a single ambition: becoming the world leader in exceptional spirits. To this end, it relies on the commitment and creativity of its 1,850 employees and on its distribution subsidiaries established in the Group’s strategic markets. Rémy Cointreau is listed on Euronext Paris.

About Independent Restaurant Coalition (IRC)

The Independent Restaurant Coalition was formed by chefs and independent restaurant owners across the country who have built a grassroots movement to secure vital protections for the nation’s 500,000 independent restaurants and the more than 11 million restaurant workers impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. The Coalition’s leadership team includes Tyler Akin, José Andrés, Kevin Boehm, Sean Brock, Katie Button, Andrew Carmellini, Ashley Christensen, Jeanie Chunn, Amanda Cohen, Tom Colicchio, Nina Compton, Rosa Garcia, Suzanne Goin, Gregory Gourdet, Will Guidara, Mason Hereford, Sam Kass, Max Katzenberg, Mike Lata, Camilla Marcus, Ivy Mix, Kwame Onwuachi, Patrick Phelan, Erika Polmar, Naomi Pomeroy, Niki Russ Federman, Steven Satterfield, Michael Shemtov, Nancy Silverton, Frank Stitt, Bobby Stuckey, Robert St. John, Caroline Styne, Jill Tyler, and Andrew Zimmern. The IRC formed during the COVID-19 pandemic by independent restaurateurs and chefs. To learn more, please visit saverestaurants.com.

Contacts

Press Contacts
Cointreau press@cointreaupress.com

Jeff Solnet for IRC Jeff@precisionstrategies.com

Release Summary

COINTREAU UNVEILS “LOVE LETTER” ENCOURAGING CONSUMERS TO SUPPORT THEIR FAVORITE LOCAL RESTAURANTS AND BARS IN FIRST-EVER BIG GAME CAMPAIGN

Contacts

Press Contacts
Cointreau press@cointreaupress.com

Jeff Solnet for IRC Jeff@precisionstrategies.com