Heineken 12 Questions and 3 Paragraphs

Questions Heineken commercial

1)      Is there a safety lock on the fridge? (To keep children out?)

2)      Is it possible for the guys to get intoxicated in the fridge and get locked in there and die?

3)      How cold is the fridge? The beers in the fridge?

4)      How healthy are the beers?

5)      How long will it be before the refrigerator needs to be restocked with Heinekens?

6)      Did Heineken’s beer sales increase after the commercial?

7)      Why did Heineken guide this commercial to a generally male audience?

8)      Why did it take 19 seconds for Heineken to introduce the first beer in the commercial?

9)      Why wasn’t their product placement clear prior to the refrigerator scene?

10)   Does such a refrigerator exist?

11)   What made Heineken choose a walk in refrigerator as the location to shoot the commercial opposed to more conventional places, such as a bar?

12)   What do females think of this commercial? It seems sexist because it exaggerates/stereotypes that females care a lot about clothes/closet space and counters that men care that way about beer.

Typically, when one sees a beer commercial, it usually takes place in a bar, at a party, or in a grocery store. However, Heineken chose to break this mold and decided to build a set that depict a presumably young couple who just bought their first house and are having a formal house warming. The wife takes her friends to see her new walk-in closet space, to which the females all oooo and aaaaah and scream out of joy. On the other hand, the husband takes his friends to his special “room”, a walk-in refrigerator fully stocked with ice cold Heinekens and the males get even more excited than the females and produce much more screaming out of delight. To the guys, this refrigerator is heaven and unlike anything they have ever seen before. Also, they probably think it’s great to have a friend that has a walk-in refrigerator stocked with Heinekens.

Heineken wished to target their male audience with this commercial, due to the plot focusing on the Heinekens with the guys in the refrigerator. None of the female main characters saw a Heineken in this commercial. Heineken’s use of product placement seems flawed because you don’t see the product clearly until the walk-in refrigerator scene. If I was in charge of this commercial, I would have had a Heineken light-up bar sign on the wall in the opening scene and a couple of Heineken bottles, cans, and kegs clearly out on the tables in the room (with light focusing on the labels). A couple of people are drinking Heinekens, but there is not enough light in the room to identify their beverage as a Heineken. It took 19 seconds before a Heineken logo was spotted and before you knew it was a beer commercial.

Overall, I really enjoyed this commercial. It had humor, successfully and clearly marketed their intended audience, and was simple, yet effective. Heineken also stepped out of the box with the location where they shot the commercial, which adds to the originality.