Overview
When you're sitting in a pub with an ice-cold beer in your hand, and you're about to bring it to your lips to have that especially refreshing first sip, there are plenty of things that you can say cheers to. You can direct your thoughts towards the pals you're drinking with, a special occasion or good news, for instance. Or, in these pandemic-era times, you can say cheers to simply being able to have a beer in a pub — when and where that's possible around lockdowns and restrictions.
Australian brewery Furphy wants to help Aussies say cheers, and to help boost the country's vaccination campaign in the process. So, it's doing the best giveaway that a brewery can do and shouting a free beer to 33,000 people that've had both their jabs.
Get vaxxed, get a free brew. That's it, that's the initiative. Furphy's 'vaxxed to the pub' aims to increase the number of jabs going into arms, and therefore help get Australia's vaccination rates up — because, under both state-level and national plans, the pathway to coming out of lockdown (in New South Wales and Victoria) and easing the rules in general (in states that aren't currently under stay-at-home conditions) is tied to the number of people who've been rolled up their sleeves.
Here's how it works: you fill out the online form on the Furphy website, then you'll be contacted about how you can nab your free brew. The campaign is all about getting people into pubs and clubs again, so you'll be drinking your beer in a participating watering hole — when that's allowed in your state, of course, with the giveaway running from October 1–December 31, 2021.
You'll get a free Furphy Refreshing Ale or Furphy Crisp Lager for your troubles, if you're wondering what you'll be drinking. And, you'll need to use the Myy App — and prove that you've been fully COVID-19 vaccinated by showing your vax certificate, of course.
Chris Pavlich Photography
"We're urging our fellow Aussies to roll up their sleeves and get double-jabbed so that we can start to bring much needed business back to our struggling hospitality sector," said Lion Managing Director James Brindley. "We want to encourage all Aussies who can to get fully vaccinated. We can't wait for the Furphys to flow once more and give some much-needed foot traffic to our hospitality mates."
Like Furphy, a heap of Aussie breweries and venues have been finding ways to support the vaccination rollout in recent months. Some pubs have been handing out free brews, Hawke's Brewing Co painted a giant mural of a vaxxed Bob Hawke sipping a frothy on its wall in Sydney and VB has given its classic "hard-earned thirst" ad a jab-friendly spin, for example.
For more information about Furphy's 'vaxxed to the pub' initiative, and to register for your free beer, head to the brewery's website.