The short answer is no. Because Pepsi’s ad wasn’t trying to say anything, whereas Heineken’s does.

As I said in my previous post about Pepsi’s ad (click here to read), the problem with it, was that it was co-opting all of this #Resistance imagery and feeling and then doing nothing with it. I claimed that using a ‘good cause’ was possible with advertising and that Pepsi’s tone-deaf ad had failed.

The failed Pepsi campaign with no fizz

But after I wrote that, it left me thinking. Is it really possible to ‘say something’ with an ad, a device that is fundamentally designed to sell something? Is it not incredibly appropriating to think that your little tv or web spot has the right to talk about these big issues, or even worse, preach about them?

So first up, here’s why I think ads do have that right;

They are part of the grand kaleidoscope of visual media we consume every day. We consume them alongside our documentaries, our soap operas and our YouTube vlogs. They are part of the shape of our contemporary culture and they inform and describe the zeitgeist of our media-viewed world.

That was a lot of words, but what I’m getting at is, they are inextricably part of everything we view and consume. And as such they have a right, maybe even a responsibility to use that colossal audience for something of worth.

You could take a very cynical view of TV that the only reason the BBC puts out the best stories and shows it can is so that you will pay for a TV license. They want your money so they make something good that you will pay for.

You could see advertising in the same way. Yes, they’re trying to sell something, to make money, but most advertisers are acutely aware that if they entertain, engage or educate the viewer, make their ad worthwhile, the viewer is more likely to get involved with the brand or the product.

So, following that ads have the right to say something, is it really possible to actually do it? Without appearing cynical, appropriating and money-grabbing? I believe Heineken showed us how, and the answer is not putting the product at the centre of the ad.

Heineken’s spot brought people together with polar opposite political views.

A topic that is very hot right now, especially on the internet. Thanks in part to Brexit/Donald Trump and in part to social media, people are more divided than ever, but also more vocal than ever.

Arguing on the internet is a thing now and forms a major part of the political landscape. People of each side, demonise and villainise the other and we all form a bubble of like-minded people around us in our Facebook and Twitter safe-havens.

Heineken’s ad takes people on the opposite sides of many of these very hot-right-now arguments and brings them together in an ad that advocates actually sitting down and talking. It shows that the people on the other side of your argument, are actually people. That just because you disagree on something that’s important to both of you, doesn’t mean that nothing can be done.

Not only is this something we can actually learn from, but the placement of the product is incredibly subtle. The ad refers to the value of ‘sitting down with a beer’. They don’t even say the product’s name. This allows the ad to serve as just a friendly piece of advice you could apply to any beverage. Obviously the ‘beer’ in question in the ad is Heineken, but we can forgive them for that.

Heineken aren’t claiming that a Heineken will save the world. That a Heineken will unite the conflicting sides of heated political arguments. They’re claiming that sitting down and talking will. The beer is optional.

The ad is captivating, fascinating and has a gogglebox-like quality of watching real people and seeing how they will react. But it teaches something as well. Something incredibly relevant to today, to right now.

The cynical of us out there will refuse to be taught something by an ad. They will claim that ‘it’s just an ad’ and that ‘it is only trying to sell something so it’s not worth listening to’. But the real truth is that Heineken, took the time and spent the money to actually say something, that outside of the context of an ad, is still an eye-opening and thought-provoking piece.

The real truth is, if someone just made a video that made these points and told this story without the product connection, and put it online, it would get 3 views. Maybe less.

But when Heineken does it as an ad, it is seen by millions, cheers to that!

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