Heineken Reminds Us That Real Friends Aren’t Artificial
Heineken has unveiled a campaign created by LePub New York. The beer brand has jumped into the conversation around AI companionship with a tongue-in-cheek campaign that reinforces Heineken's longstanding brand promise: real friends are made over real beers, not through artificial companionship.
AI friendship devices have sparked intense conversations in New York and beyond recently, Heineken saw an opportunity to inject humour into the cultural conversation while championing authentic human connection.
The campaign revolves around a functional bottle opener necklace that serves as Heineken's playful take on wearable tech. The line, 'The best way to make a friend is over a beer,' appears on high-impact OOH in NYC and social media, celebrating Heineken's philosophy of bringing people together in real life.
The campaign launches this week with high-impact OOH placements in New York City and social media posts across Heineken US Instagram accounts. The phased rollout includes:
- Social media post on @heineken_us featuring the bottle opener necklace with the caption 'Tag a (real) friend you want to have a beer with 🍻 #SocialOffSocials'
- OOH placement in NYC featuring the bottle opener necklace and tagline 'The best way to make a friend is over a beer' with 'Heineken: Social networking since 1873'
LePub chief creative officer, Jim Curtis explained, "Heineken believes the best way to make a friend is still over a real beer with a real person. And it's clear many New Yorkers agree. Which is why we've developed this state-of-the-art innovation proven to effectively open beer bottles almost instantly. Hopefully, it inspires more people to get together in real life, which is exactly what Heineken has been helping people do since 1873."
