Dive Brief:

• Jack Daniel's Tennessee Fire launched a branded web series, the "Drag Queen Mukbang," which a press release says merges two millennial trends: drag queen brunches and mukbang videos in which presenters film themselves eating food. The content is part of the brand's efforts to celebrate Pride Month.
• The series features four episodes, with one released every week starting June 20. The series stars drag queens Patrick Starrr, Gia Gunn, Eugene Lee Yang and Laganja Estranja. In the videos, these artists will eat brunch, tell stories, discuss the impact of COVID-19 on their lives and the LGBTQ+ community, as well as perform for viewers at home while drinking cinnamon-flavored Tennessee Fire.
• COVID-19 social distancing rules were followed by the hosts during filming and for building the sets. With bars and restaurants shut down, putting many drag queens out of work, Jack Daniel's has also partnered with GLAAD and other local nonprofits to help support these self-employed entertainers.

Dive Insight:

With the parades and parties that typically accompany Pride Month shut down this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, brands are turning to digital tactics to engage with consumers. Jack Daniel's has honed in on two food trends it claims are popular with millennials in its strategy for Tennessee Fire, combining real-world drag queen brunches with mukbang videos to create entertaining branded content.

While Pride Month is normally a jubilant time of year for the LGBTQ+ community, this year things are more subdued because of COVID-19 shutdowns, in addition to how the ongoing movement for racial justice often strikes a more somber tone. The stars of "Drag Queen Mukbang" will try to entertain viewers while also discussing some of the issues the community is facing. The effort reflects Jack Daniel's parent company Brown-Forman's support of LGBTQ+ employees, with the company having received a perfect score for ten years on the Corporate Equality Index, a national report on LGBTQ+ workplace equality, per the press release.

From a production standpoint, the performers created their own sets and filmed their own parts, a new trend that has emerged in content production during the health crisis that could continue even as social distancing orders are relaxed. Trade, a direct-to-consumer subscription coffee service, for instance, highlighted the benefits of getting together virtually for coffee for a video ad.

Jack Daniel's is taking a page from this playbook and showing how much fun a virtual brunch, cocktails and all, can be over video.