Heineken launches purpose-led campaign to promote, well, tolerance
The brand unveiled its new Open Your World campaign at the end of April 2017, which challenges Brits to overcome prejudices and find common ground with others who have opposing views.
The campaign video shows a real-life social experiment that puts together two strangers divided by their beliefs meeting for the first time. The pairings include a feminist and anti-feminist, and an environmentalist with a climate change denier. The video’s message? Tolerance does it. And two bottles of Heineken, too.
Heineken’s UK head of marketing Cindy Tervoort was quoted as saying that the campaign was put together over the course of nine months following the insight that “empathy, openness and tolerance are under threat”.
There has been a growing trend among brands to take a political or social stance in their campaigns. While Starbucks received plaudits for its CEO’s commitment to hire refugees, Pepsi’s recent campaign, which shows model Kendall Jenner easing tensions with the police at a protest by handing out Pepsi, clearly missed the mark.
Heineken’s campaign has seemingly made an impact, racking up more than twelve million views on YouTube by mid-May.
Criticism has also been forthcoming. Mark Ritson wrote on MarketingWeek (10 May 2017): “Clearly the Heineken ad has created a dialogue and, hopefully, promoted a series of progressive causes and the whole notion of respect for divergent viewpoints. But what it will not do is help Heineken sell any more beer. The ads certainly won’t do the brand any harm because, unlike Pepsi’s beliefs-based campaign, this is a well-made and thoughtful ad (being free of any member of the Kardashian clan also helps). Heineken’s new purpose-driven ad might express all the right values, but marketers must remember if you don’t use your budget to create sales, you’ve failed.”
I am sure the Coopers Brewery in Australia will have followed this with feelings of dismay. Their controversial Bible Society ad, launched in March 2017 with the best intentions, was structured the same way as the Heineken ad and the message – openness and tolerance – was equally clear. But why did netizens castigate Coopers for the marriage equality ad while Heineken is – mostly – receiving praise? It’s a mystery.
