Heineken unleashes global campaign to shut down your always-on work cultures

Heineken has rolled out a global campaign featuring a bottle opener that instantly shuts down all work appliances when a bottle of Heineken is opened. The video titled "The Closer" seeks to address growing work-life imbalance faced by many workers, and inspire them to stop overworking. Dramatised in the campaign film as the antidote to the increasing demands of workers' always-on work culture, the brand said that "The Closer" bottle opener is a symbol for the power every worker has to rest at the end of the day. 

The video starts off with an office worker stuck in a meeting, unable to meet his friend who is at a party. Leveraging this opportunity to introduce both its Heineken bottles, as well as the bottle opener, the worker then finds out he has shut down all the work appliances, and the office becomes totally dark. As the video progresses, it showcases different places that workers are working in, such as a world summit, news broadcast room, and even a bar. As a result, the video ends with the workers being able to take a break from their laptops and work, having fun while holding the Heineken bottles. 

The creative concept for "The Closer" campaign came about from the increased demands placed on its vast workforce, Heineken said. The brand added that the campaign was created to spark conservation, as well as empower its own employees. 

This is the first campaign from Heineken that launches "For a Fresher World" - an expression that aims to refresh the world by showing life tastes better with an open mind. With this new approach, campaigns will strive to challenge the obvious, reconsider stereotypes and oppose tired clichés, the brand said. 

"As a brand, we have always stood for creating moments of shared connections with others. With the once-rigid boundaries between work and personal time rapidly deteriorating following the COVID-19 pandemic, we want to spark a much-needed conversation about the importance of resisting the societal pressures to be in a constant state of busy work and encourage workers around the world to reprioritise social and leisure time with the people who matter most," said Bram Westenbrink, global head Heineken Brand at Heineken. 

Bruno Bertelli, global chief creative officer of Publicis Worldwide, the lead agency that created the campaign, said: "As people continue to feel like they have to work all the time, they're forgetting that disconnecting is even an option. That's why we created The Closer. It's not just technology." He added that the campaign is a social provocation to help people see that the pressure to work all the time is "getting a little ridiculous", and that people have the power to log off and go hang out with their friends again. 

"While work life imbalance is an issue felt around the world, it can't be solved with just one policy change," said Yolanda Talamo, global head of human resources at Heineken. He explained that the this "high-tech bottle opener" is a symbol that acts as a catalyst for change. "We are asking all of our employees to help us identify practical solutions that take into account the cultural nuances in each of the countries we operate in so everyone can enjoy more balance between their work and personal time," he added.

According to Heineken, "The Closer" bottle opener will be announced at an exclusive launch event reminiscent of iconic tech announcements. For APAC in particular, the bottle opener will launch on 1 August.

Meanwhile, Heineken has entered the digital world with its first virtual beer, Heineken Silver, in its virtual brewery within the immersive digital platform, Decentraland in March this year. The brand said previously that while Heineken has always been passionate about natural ingredients, in the metaverse, it was all about the "finest, 100% computer-generated ingredients".

It added, “Our special A-yeast, usually brewed in horizontal tanks, has been replaced with A-Pixels. Forget hops harvested in fields, virtual Heineken Silver is brewed with Binary Coded Hops grown by NPC (non-player character) farmers.” Westenbrink said previously: " Our new virtual beer, Heineken Silver is an ironic joke. It is a self-aware idea that pokes fun at us and many other brands that are jumping into the metaverse with products that are best enjoyed in the real world." The virtual beer was unveiled at a product launch event in Heineken's virtual brewery, where guests learnt about how the beer is made in seconds, while enjoying pixelated lobster and caviar. 

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