Heineken is the latest beverage manufacturer to hop on board the political bandwagon with the launch of a campaign called 'Worlds Apart'.
The campaign follows attempts by Coopers to air differences of opinion over a sip of beer and Pepsi's failed political ad that spoke to the Black Lives Matter and #Resistance movements using Kendall Jenner.
Heineken's campaign brings together strangers with directly opposing beliefs and points of view and gets them to build a bar together in a "social experiment" designed to overcome barriers in a polarised world:
The film, directed by Toby Dye of RSA for Publicis London, sees three pairs team up: a climate-change denier with an environmental activitist; a transgender woman and a right-wing man who thinks it's “wrong"; a feminist and an anti-feminist.
They're challenged with assembling some flat pack furniture and then a bar, as well as discussing each other's personalities (but not beliefs specifically).
As part of the project, which forms part of Heineken's ongoing Open Your World campaign, Heineken is also partnering with The Human Library, a not-for-profit group that uses conversation to challenge stereotypes.
Some have said the beer company’s ad speaks to the political shifts that have become apparent, while showing the power of “talking in real life” rather than online.
However, others have criticised it, with statements such as:
“...the conservative men in the video had to sacrifice their version of 'truth' in order for the 'dialogue' to proceed.”
Another comment on a Facebook feed read:
“Because Heineken are seen as openly supporting same-sex marriage, their ads will be celebrated as fair, reasonable and mature.”
