Be still and feel the Alps

When Ad Nut wishes to be whisked away to another world Ad Nut closes Ad Nut's eyes and dreams of a land of lush nature, where the wind flows through the trees and a smattering of birdsong rings through the air.  Then Ad Nut realises that this dreamland is actually quite close to the reality of everyday forest life.

Not so with the latest (and first global) campaign for Heineken's Edelweiss wheat beer, which is having its initial TVC launch in Korea and Russia and will expand later to China, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam. 

The ad, according to promotion materials, aims to appeal to urbanites whose noisy, stressful realities will drift off as they are "whisked away from the clamour of city life and flown across soaring peaks and sweeping horizons, showing the natural world and its boundless beauty."

So what you get in the ad is not a noisy party where everyone is chugging the same brews while high-fiving one another, but a complete absence of dialogue altogether. The only things you hear in the ad are wind, water and a bit of birdsong, allowing you to focus on nature.

According to the global director of Heineken’s international premium beer portfolio, Marcelo Amstalden Moller, the brief given to agency Fred & Farid (Los Angeles) was an ad where you could feel the Alps and almost taste the nature in the beer. (Edelweiss is infused with mountain herbs which give it a natural taste, you see.) 

To make you feel like you're in the Alps, two actors float through the scene, Peter Pan-style, across peaks, over lakes and into forests. With their arms beside them, not in front of them, they appear to have no purpose or direction, letting nature take over, even at one point dropping one character down through the forest branches.

Beer itself isn't mentioned at all. The ad is all about wanting an experience, the ability to feel and taste the Alps, a remote place of peace and serenity, and it did make Ad Nut want to be there.

But Ad Nut's analytical marketing side couldn't help but feel an unsettling aftertaste of wondering just what it was that just capitivated Ad Nut's attention, and to what end. 

For more on Edelweiss' marketing launch in five new APAC markets, see How Alpine imagery is helping Heineken engage Asian consumers around wheat beer Edelweiss for our interview with Heineken’s Marcelo Amstalden Moller.

CREDITS

Client: Heineken Group
Product: Edelweiss Beer
Global Director International Premium Beer Portfolio: Marcelo Amstalden Möller
Global Marketing Manager: Eric Halgand
Senior Director Global International Brands: Malgorzata Lubelska

Agency: Fred & Farid Los Angeles
Chief Creative Officers: Fred & Farid
Creative Director: Nicolas Berthier
Art Director: Pierrick Jégou
Business Director: Jules Chaffiotte
Executive Producer: Amanda Van Caneghem
Business Affairs: Jaime Szefc

Production Company: Caviar Service
Production Company: Division
Director: Arnaud Uyttenhove
DOP: Ben Seresin
Executive Producer: Michael Sagol
Line Producers: Maggie McLean & Urska Vardijan
VFX Supervisor: Ben Dekeyser
Product Stylist: Klemen Stare
Drone Pilots: Filip Brazdil & Simon Haupt
Editorial: Cabin Edit
Editor: Mischa Meyer
Assistant Editor: Jonatas da Silva
Executive Producer: Adam Becht
Head of Production: Liz Lydecker
Post Producer: Dale Nicholls
VFX & Online: Shape and Light
Executive Producer: Cara Lehr
VFX Head Creative: Rob Trent
VFX Producer: Arielle Weir
Flame Artist: Sarah Marikar
Colorist: Emiliano Serantoni
Music Composer: Ali Helnwein
Sound Design & Audio Mix: Massive Music

Ad Nut is a surprisingly literate woodland creature that for unknown reasons has an unhealthy obsession with advertising. Ad Nut gathers ads from all over Asia and the world for your viewing pleasure, because Ad Nut loves you. You can also check out Ad Nut's Advertising Hall of Fame, or read about Ad Nut's strange obsession with 'murderous beasts'.