A bold and defiant pair of 33cl Ardagh Metal Packaging cans in arresting matte black have turned heads at the shortlisting stage of the 2021 UK Packaging Awards.

The two on-trend hard seltzer products from leading UK wine company Treasury Wine Estates were released this summer in an exciting expansion of the company’s ‘19 Crimes’ wine brand into multiple new markets. In two sophisticated flavours – Lime Bitters and Raspberry and Black Pepper – the new hard seltzers brought this provocative brand to a can for the first time. Designed, manufactured and filled in the UK, the Ardagh metal beverage can is now in contention for the UK Packaging Awards’ Metal Pack of the Year.

Based on the nineteen specific misdemeanours that would see British convicts punished by transportation to Australia, the cans present profiles of real 19th-centuryrogues, set against clever “legal document” styling in a period-appropriate colour palette of sepia and black. The striking design offers a thrill of transgressive novelty, bringing a new edgy look to the familiar 33cl can already trusted by consumers for its fantastic useability and product protective qualities.

The exciting theme is underscored by a fully black shell, black tab and black can shoulder, while Ardagh’s special-effect matte finish deepens the dark attraction even further, achieving maximum impact against lighter products on the shelf. To complete the look, a streak of colour flashes dramatically against the sombre base to quickly differentiate the flavours.

Its shortlisting for 2021 Metal Pack of the Year recognises the product’s unique look-and-feel and the disruptive impact it aims to make on the fast-growing hard seltzer category.