NON-fungible tokens (NFTs) are seemingly all the rage, having exploded onto the scene over the last couple years. By taking advantage of blockchain technology – the basis of cryptocurrency – brands and artists have a way of reaching out directly to consumers who want to collect something unique that they can call their own.
It’s definitely one of those things that can leave you scratching your head in bewilderment if you’re not plugged into tech trends. We probably all know someone who keeps going on and on about crypto but don’t really understand what they’re saying.
NFTs have been in the headlines again and again, as a lot of money is being thrown around to buy them. There’s a lot of excitement around them, and some brands see them as a way to build up hype.
Tiger Beer is the latest to get on the bandwagon, partnering with Pestle and Mortar Clothing (PMC), a fashionable streetwear brand for the Lucky Tigers NFT collection. Also known as The Tiger Archives, the collection is PMC’s slant on Chinese archival tiger artwork.
PMC, who have worked with Tiger before, approached the beer brand with the idea of an NFT project sometime last year. The Tiger Archives are a culmination of six months of work, involving artists, developers and others working together.
“One of our main drivers for The Tiger Archives is to educate newcomers into the metaverse, and illuminate this space for our community. We want to show how the metaverse enables endless possibilities, and are excited for our community to join us on this bold adventure,” said PMC founder Hugh Koh.
“By ingraining the Spirit of the Tiger onto the blockchain, these NFTs also serve as lucky charms that will bring its owners joy and abundance throughout the Tiger year and beyond,” added Hugh.
During the launch event at Tiffin at the Yard last week, he announced that there were a total of 6,688 NFTs.
“All these NFTs they are different, so they are unique. In terms of how they actually go together, Jack and team have to put together all these different traits and we use a computer to generate uniqueness in a randomised sense,” he said.
“We hand drew about 86 different traits, when it comes to the poses and skins of the tigers, there’s a total of 600 of them, so we have to work really smartly when it comes to the delegation of who’s drawing what and making sure we’re doing the same type of tiger,” said Jack Gan, PMC’s head of brand and lead creative.
Inspired by tarot cards and trading cards, merging Chinese iconography with a modern touch, PMC wanted to avoid some of the common stylistic choices that NFTs have been guilty of.
“One of the things we were talking about from the very get go, the approach was we didn’t want it to look like a profile picture. If you realise a lot of NFT projects these days, they are all profile picture style and we wanted to differentiate ourselves from all the other projects out there,” said Hugh.
Joyce Lim, marketing manager of Tiger Beer Malaysia said, “This foray into NFTs showcases the brand’s progressive, roaring spirit, and we hope to continue breaking boundaries with our long standing partner, PMC”.
“PMC being a lifestyle brand I think it really somewhat makes sense, especially when you actually look at the NFT space, a lot of it actually revolves around community and here at PMC that’s exactly what we’ve been doing for the past 11 years,” said Hugh.
The NFTs will be available for sale to the public at large on January 30 (the 28th for those on the whitelist), with each of the digital tokens costing 0.05 ETH (or RM531 at time of publishing). 30% of all proceeds will go toward supporting local musicians and artists throughout 2022.
On top of that, NFT holders will unlock a series of exclusive perks such as curated experiences in Malaysia and Singapore, as well as limited edition merchandise.
The Tiger Archives currently has an ongoing pop up at Tiffin at the Yard, Sentul Depot, where a preview of the NFTs is being showcased until February 7. – The Vibes, January 24, 2022
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