Who’s up for a non-alcoholic barrel of fun?
Publicis Milan rolls out the self-consciously silly humor with zippy spots introducing Heineken 0.0, the brand’s first zero-alcohol beer, aimed mainly at markets in Europe plus Russia and Israel.
A 60-second TV manifesto that dropped a few weeks ago introduces the tagline “Open to all.” A cheeky voiceover begins, “Yes, we are open. Come in. Come as you are. Without trousers, if you like.”
So, feel free to drop your pants and check out the ad below. It features quirky, quick-cut takes on open-mindedness and inclusion, with men in drag, a cheesy magician, women boxing, a head-bangin’ music teacher, some urban cowboy type who rides his horse through the city at night, a self-assured goth gal, and a Martian who’s mastered the art of parallel parking:
“The target we are talking to are those who would like to have a zero-alcohol beer whenever they feel like it,” Marco Venturelli, agency executive creative director, tells Adweek. “We challenge those who say ‘Beer shouldn’t be drunk in the afternoon’ and give them a reason” to try Heineken 0.0.
Short online clips that broke last week place the brand at the center of different oddball scenarios. For example, why order a sparkly, fru-fru non-alcoholic cocktail when Heineken 0.0 is in the house?
“Took us forever to build the Fabio’s Temptation mocktail,” Venturelli recalls. “Creating—as Daniel Warwick, the director, put it—a ‘drinkable unicorn fart’ is not an easy job.”
Ah well, somebody’s gotta do it.
Next comes a workplace spoof, with an enterprising intern pounding down the Heineken 0.0 as she climbs the corporate ladder:
HR is gonna get complaints about that meeting for sure.
Meanwhile, a dude with romance on his mind has more than one reason on date night for wanting to keep a clear head:
Next time, hire a sitter.
Elsewhere, out in the garage, a DIY enthusiast really drills down into the brand proposition:
And here’s an especially unorthodox/obnoxious beer run:
“We didn’t consider other beers as competitors, but all the other drinks you reach for when you can’t or don’t feel like having alcohol,” says Venturelli. “So, we could take beer-world fun and apply it to any moment of the day and any person out there.”
Look, this stuff isn’t face-meltingly funny. Like the best non-alcoholic brews, the campaign employs a light touch designed to please without annihilating your powers of reason. Can the same be said for a “drinkable unicorn fart”? Alas, we’ll never know for sure.
A few more ads are on tap below:
