This company won SXSW with St. Bernard puppies and free beer

Business Insider / Jillian D'Onfro

I heard some variation of the same line at least half a dozen times at SXSW, the mega tech conference in Austin, Texas, last weekend. 

The adorable puppies in question came to SXSW because of a collaboration between The National St. Bernard Foundation and the smartphone battery case company Mophie. 

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In the 18th century, monks in the Swiss Alps used St. Bernards as rescue dogs. Mophie makes cases that "rescue" dying phones by providing an on-the-go charge.

So, the whole schtick was that conference participants with low cell battery could tweet at Mophie to have a dog come deliver a free charger.

Business Insider / Jillian D'Onfro

Even if your phone was fine on juice, you could visit Mophie's Swiss-lodge-themed station to snuggle the dogs and drink beer. The reps on the street steering people towards the event had the easiest job in the world:

"Free beer!" they shouted from a street corner. "Puppies!" 

Unsurprisingly, the area often had a line to get in. 

Business Insider / Jillian D'Onfro

The clever marketing stunt created quite a buzz. I heard more people talking about the stunt than about any single other startup or company (besides maybe hot live-streaming app Meerkat).

I personally never saw any pups out delivering juice in the wild, but Mophie says that the team sent out over 600 "rescue missions" over the weekend: