Heineken is attempting to blackmail consumers into buying its lager
with a brave new campaign devised by Lowe Lintas.
The campaign, backed with a £3 million spend, is designed to
combat the recent success of the "whassup?" Budweiser campaigns. Four TV
spots have been produced, each one designed to be more threatening than
the last.
The campaign kicks off next week with a 30-second spot featuring the
magician Paul Daniels and his wife, Debbie McGee, employing their
limited singing talents to produce their own unique interpretation of
the Carpenters' pop classic Close to you.
At the end of the ad, as Paul and Debbie continue to croon out the song,
a message warns viewers: "Buy a pint of Heineken or we'll keep running
this commercial."
The second ad has been prepared as a warning for those people who
haven't taken the blackmail threat seriously. In this execution, Paul
and Debbie continue to sing Close to you but are joined by Peter
Stringfellow, who descends from the top of the stage dressed as an
angel. He joins in the singing and accompanies them on a harp.
The campaign, written by Tony Barry and art directed by Damon Collins,
develops using Vanessa Feltz, Jimmy Hill, Tamara Beckwith and Lisa
Riley. Chris Palmer directed through Gorgeous.
The campaign finishes with a top-secret finale, which will use the "How
refreshing. How Heineken" strapline. The campaign is expected to run for
six weeks.
Matt Edwards, an associate director on Heineken at Lowe Lintas, said:
"Producing this campaign was a real challenge. We had discussions with
more than 70 agents, to ensure our celebrity singers would be capable of
blackmailing the public with their performances. The celebrities we
selected gave their total support to the blackmail idea."
Media buying will be handled by Starcom Motive.
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