Last night I caught one of the most polarizing advertisements I have seen in a long time. So much so I nearly choked up. While re-watching some of our video drops yesterday I was served with ad with the opening dialogue “I describe my views as the ‘new right'”. Due to the current nature of everyones seemingly batshit crazy political views I immediately thought to myself “ok what the fuck is this shit now?” Was I about to watch the next Pepsi debacle? Anticipating another train wreck of an ad campaign, I refrained from hitting the five second ad-skip button. The video started off with a handful of a ethnically and sexually mixed group of people individually stating some of their political beliefs, many contradicting each other. They are then paired up and given instructions to work as a team to put together a bar top and few stools. Everyone appears to help one another and all the teams quickly complete their task. Once they’ve completed, they’re instructed to discuss in 5 words what it means to be themselves and then 3 things they think each other has in common. Everyone’s having a fairly pleasant time, and at the end of their respective discussions, to their delight, the group pairs are presented with a couple of ice cold Heiny’s. Right now you’re thinking “this is all hokey dokey, great a couple people put aside their differences and built a couple stools, woopee!” And right then comes the kicker. A buzzer sounds and a voice over a loud speaker instructs the two individuals to stand and watch a short film.

Unbeknownst to them, the short film is their opening statements. Statements that are completely insensitive to the person they’re standing next too and have been working together with for the past however many minutes. Their shame is blatantly apparent. You immediately feel embarrassed for all of them. Once their videos statements finish playing, the loud speaker voice returns to let the groups know they are free to leave, or stay and discuss their differences over a beer. After an awkward pause, everyone chooses the beer.

I mean this is what beer is all about. How many times has an argument you’ve had finish with a “let’s grab a beer and talk about it”. This is how you squash shit. This is how advertising should be done. Show that your a company that actual gives a shit about the people who buy your product and what’s going on in the world. Kudos to you Heineken, you guys are woke. Beer can save the world.