Wednesday’s ads are not particularly old, but they are pretty clever. They’re actually ads for one of my least favorite beers — Heineken — but that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate the artistry and creativity of them. I chose a Heineken ad today because on this day in 1933, Heineken began importing their beer to the U.S. once more, since Prohibition had just ended. The slogan that ties the ads together is “For a Fresher World,” ironic given Heineken’s proclivity to becoming lightstruck (a.k.a. skunked) due, at least in part, to using green glass bottles and most grocery stores employing fluorescent lighting. In each ad, they’ve used Heineken’s various packages (bottles, cans, kegs, 12-packs, etc.) to create cityscapes of famous places. I’m sure it was done with computers, similar, I suspect, to Lego’s Design by Me software that my son Porter and I have been playing around with lately to create virtual Lego worlds. But instead of Lego pieces as building blocks, Heineken packages. The green-tinted cities are are a wonder to behold, what the Emerald City of Oz might have looked like if all the Munchkins drank beer.
Because I used to live in New York, it’s the most impressive one to me, especially in the higher resolution version (click on the image to see it larger, then click on “all sizes”). Check out the corkscrew as lady liberty, the Statue of Liberty. “Give me your thirsty, your parched, your beerless masses yearning to drink free.”
In addition to New York, there’s also one of Rio de Janiero.
And also Paris.
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That’s some pretty great fusion of beer advertising with fantastic cityscape artwork. Almost makes me feel better about Heineken. Any idea who their ad firm was?
I missed these when they came around; thanks for posting them.
Yes, here’s the info:
Advertising Agency: Publicis Conseil, Paris, France
Creative Director: Olivier Altmann
Copywriter: Nicolas Schmitt
Art Director: Pierre Penicaud
Illustrator: Denis Assor @ Créative Syndicate
I just want to say that I really look forward to, and enjoy your beer ad postings. I’m an Art Director by trade with a Homebrew hobby so starting the day with your beer ad commentary really works. Thanks. Ben