Heineken transforms laundromats into sports bars for the UEFA Champions League

Heineken has partnered South Korean laundromat franchise WashEnjoy to turn 24-hour laundromats into all-night sports bars for fans to watch the UEFA Champions League as it aims to make football more inclusive.

Done in partnership with Publicis Groupe’s LePub, the LaundroMatch campaign was inspired by devoted football fans who wake up at three or four in the morning and want to watch the UEFA Champions League with their friends.

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However, as most bars are closed at that time and homes are not the ideal place to cheer on teams in the early morning, LaundroMatch provides a place for fans to get together to watch the matches and enjoy Heineken drinks.

Through the campaign, South Korean fans will be able to scan QR codes found at WashEnjoy laundromats nationwide to access complimentary 30-day SPOTV subscriptions, to enjoy the UEFA Champions League quarter and semi-finals at a nearby Heineken LaundroMatch. Fans will also stand a chance to win an all-expense paid trip to the final UEFA Champions League 2024 match on 1 June.

“Heineken believes that being a ‘real hardcore’ football fan isn’t about how you look, it’s about how you behave – anyone who wakes up at ridiculous hours to watch their team, names their pets after their icons, or wears their lucky pair of socks during matches qualifies as hardcore,” said Giwoun Park, marketing director at Heineken Korea.

“We wanted to celebrate Asia’s fans who truly live and breathe the sport in a positive, sometimes quirky way. And what could be quirkier than staying up all night to watch the UEFA Champions League at a laundromat?” added Park.

As a long-time sponsor of the UEFA Champions League, LaundroMatch is part of Heinekien’s ‘Cheers To The Real Hardcore Fans’ campaign which aims to connect with a wider range of fans worldwide and position itself as the global beer of choice during the league, according to a statement by the brand.

“You may think the world’s most passionate football fans are based in Europe or Brazil, but they can actually be found in all corners of the world – cities such as Seoul, where fans are crazy enough to stay up all night to cheer on their team, said Cyril Louis, executive creative director at LePub APAC.

“We had the crazy idea of using laundromats to recognise the efforts of these fans and celebrate them with Heineken. When bars are closed, now there is a place for Korea’s real hardcore fans: 24/7 laundromats, transformed by Heineken into go-to venues for enjoying match day with friends,” he explained.

As Heineken connects with different fans, last year it launched a custom-made PC that will cool down both PC hardware and beer bottles with an integrated beer fridge to provide gamers with a cold Heineken while playing their favourite game through a new cooling system.

“TH3 G4M1NG FR1DG3 is yet another unique tool for us to communicate our ‘Not all nights out are out’ campaign, which shows that gaming and socialising are connected”, said Igor de Castro, senior marketing manager for the Heineken 0.0 brand in Brazil.

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