Heineken – Chinese New Year
While brainstorming ideas for Heineken, we identified Chinese New Year as a perfect opportunity to show the brand’s global credentials. So using the Man of the World mindset, we looked to create a piece that would celebrate this Eastern event in a way that was unmistakably Heineken.
The Year of the Ram, or ‘’ yang was where we found our inspiration. The horns of the ‘’ symbol representing the sheep/goat/ram seemed to be the most iconic and arresting symbol related to the event. This became our focus: how could we link the iconic horns with that of the iconic Heineken brand. We carefully studied the logo, the taps, the pint glass, and the typeface: all to no avail. Eventually we found it at the bottom of the bottle.
For the headline, instead of simply saying Happy Chinese New Year, we decided to run with “Happy 4713”. As well as drawing the audience to the copy, this was also a nod to the Chinese Lunar calendar, showing an awareness that not all cultures follow the Gregorian calendar.
The ad went viral, featuring on: Best Ads, Ads of the World, Ad Forum, Ad Age, @BrilliantAds, F&B News, Little Black Book, Adeevee, Creativity Online.
