1971 Hook — 2024
We Didn't Shoot a Brand.
We Built One.
In 2024, WERZ founder Sebastian Werz went to Hudson Valley, partnered with generational farmers, and launched 1971 Hook — a small-batch hot sauce with real farmers, real fighters, and zero paid placements.
The Origin
In 2024, WERZ founder Sebastian Werz didn't produce content for a hot sauce brand. He started one.
The search took months and crossed state lines before ending in Hudson Valley, New York — in the fields of families who'd been growing peppers on this land for decades. Not contract growers. Craftsmen. People who understand that what goes into the ground determines everything that comes out of it.
The Name
A hook isn't just a punch. It's the punch you throw right after you get knocked down.
That's the philosophy behind the brand: not just resilience, but returning harder. It's why the MMA community found it before anyone ran an ad. It's why the chefs who use it aren't being paid — they just believe in it.
Every creative decision came from that same place. The brand doesn't look like a typical hot sauce because it's not competing with one.
The Brand Film
It doesn't feel like an ad because it isn't one.
We went to Hudson Valley with a camera and followed what was actually happening — the fields at dawn, the farmers at work, the process from pepper to bottle. The director's cut traces the full arc. A document of something real being built.
Director's Cut · Brand Film · 2024
Behind the Build
From farm to film to shelf.
Every step of the journey — unfiltered iPhone.
7 chefs.
3 fighters.
0 paid placements.
The Community
Two communities. Same DNA.
Since launch, 1971 Hook built its network around two worlds: chefs who cook with it and MMA athletes who carry the brand. Neither was paid to start. Both found the product because it fits who they are — discipline, intensity, a refusal to be ordinary.
Editorial Campaign
The product deserved a campaign, not a product shot.
We photographed the brand with the same seriousness we'd apply to fashion — because the brand identity demanded it. A visual language built to carry into retail, press, and shelf without looking out of place.
Model Shoot
Campaign Spots
Built for buyers, made for everyone else.
Alongside the documentary, we produced campaign spots for retail pitches and social — punchy, brand-forward content that communicates who 1971 Hook is in under thirty seconds.
El Jabalito Promo
Brand Overview
What's Next
The community is already there. Now it's about the shelf.
In 2026, the focus is retail — building physical presence store by store. The goal is nationwide by 2027. The brand, the content, and the community are all in place. The next chapter is scale.
What We Delivered
- Brand Strategy & IdentityVisual language, positioning, naming
- Director's Cut Brand FilmDocumentary-style, full arc
- Editorial Photography9-photo model campaign
- Chef Video Series7 films, real kitchens
- Campaign SpotsRetail pitches + social formats
- Social Content LibraryOngoing asset production
WERZ didn't produce content — they built a brand. The film doesn't feel like marketing. It feels like the truth about where this sauce actually comes from.
— 1971 Hook · Hudson Valley, NY
