Kraken Rum unveils Leicester Square facility

Rum brand The Kraken has unveiled a new installation depicting a mythical sea monster emerging from the ground in London’s Leicester Square.

The 25-foot-tall tentacle is wrapped around a classic red telephone box, with an “innocent civilian hostage” hanging precariously from it.

The installation was complemented by a social media campaign on the brand’s Instagram account, @krakenrumuk, which shared a series of fake news bulletins showing the beast of the deep fury in other parts of the UK, with computer-generated images showing his attacks on Brighton Pier. , the bullring in Birmingham and the statue of the Duke of Wellington in Glasgow. With the latter, in homage to the Glaswegian tradition of placing a traffic cone above the Iron Duke’s head, Kraken did exactly the same.

As part of the branding push, visitors to Leicester Square are encouraged to take flash photos of the tentacle because, as a press release says: “The story goes that the only way to repel the darkness of the Kraken is for an army of brave souls to take on the Beast with camera flash, to deny him the darkness he longs for.”

Those who take a flash photo of the installation will receive a black envelope containing a voucher entitling them to two-for-one Kraken Perfect Storm cocktails at All Bar One in Leicester Square.

Kraken’s recent marketing campaigns have leaned heavily towards the horror genre, with a Halloween pop-up bar last year charging guests based on heart rate.