Heineken strongarmed into deal with small Romanian brewer

It was a satire of the highest order. In a highly publicised move, the Budapest government in March 2017 threatened to ban Heineken’s red star logo as a symbol of totalitarianism.

How on earth had the Hungarians gotten it into their minds that Heineken’s logo was party political in any way? Well, it was merely a big show to force Heineken into submission in neighbouring Romania.

In January this year, Heineken’s Romanian subsidiary won a brand-name dispute against a small craft brewer Lixid Project, which self-identifies as Hungarian in a region of Romania that is heavily populated by ethnic Hungarians.

Although a Romanian court had ruled in Heineken’s favour and said that Lixid’s Hungarian-language “Csiki” beer was too similar to Heineken’s Romanian-language “Ciuc” range and infringed trademark rights, the Hungarian government would have none of this.

It slammed the court’s decision as “undignified, unjust and anti-Hungarian” and supported calls to boycott Heineken products. Heineken is a leading brewer in both Hungary and Romania.

Adding authority to its words, MPs of the governing Fidesz-KDNP next introduced draft legislation which, if turned into law, would have banned Heineken’s red star logo.

After probably seeing red first and sense next, Heineken decided to quickly settle with Lixid Project out of court within days.

Nandor Csepreghy, a senior Hungarian government official, was quoted as saying that the case shows “that where there is a will, then David can defeat Goliath”.

Lixid Project thanked its supporters, consumers, the local community “and last but not least, the Hungarian government”.