What does Heineken, the 160-year-old Dutch brewing firm, have in widespread with San Francisco-based tech startup Buddy? Each have jumped right into a raucous debate over A.I. companionship—utilizing tongue-in-cheek ads plastered throughout New York Metropolis to make their level.
In August, Buddy launched a $1 million subway marketing campaign selling its wearable A.I. necklace as a dependable “good friend.” The backlash was quick and livid. New Yorkers responded with graffiti accusing the corporate of “profiting off of loneliness” and inspiring “surveillance capitalism.”
Because it seems, Heineken had one thing to say concerning the marketing campaign, too. “One of the best ways to make a good friend is over a beer,” reads a brand new advert from the brewer that showcases a beer opener necklace bearing a placing resemblance to Buddy’s $129 plastic pendant.
The beer maker reacted inside days of seeing Buddy’s posters, stated Guilherme de Marchi Retz, advertising vp for Heineken USA. “As conversations round A.I. companionship took off, we noticed a chance to have interaction playfully with the subject,” he advised Observer through e mail.
Heineken’s advert, now featured in New York Metropolis’s Bryant Park, has to date obtained “overwhelmingly optimistic” reactions, in keeping with De Marchi Retz, who added that the marketing campaign’s social media engagement charges are “effectively above common for related topical actions.”
Avi Schiffmann, the 22-year-old founder and CEO of Buddy, appeared extra amused than offended. “It appears fairly cool to see such a legacy model touch upon a startup, not to mention an A.I. wearable factor,” he advised Observer. “By no means seen that earlier than.”
Heineken itself isn’t essentially anti-A.I. In reality, the corporate has steadily built-in the expertise lately in an effort to spice up inner workflows, from logistics and gross sales forecasting to promotional spending.
The place it attracts the road, nonetheless, is when expertise begins to erode human connection. Heineken’s newest marketing campaign doubles down on its broader mission to advertise real-world interactions over digital dependence—a aim it has championed since launching its “Social Off Socials” initiative earlier this yr. That effort was backed by analysis displaying that 52 p.c of adults really feel overwhelmed by the stress to maintain up with social media.
To additional that message, Heineken has rolled out playful tech experiments, together with a prototype telephone case that flips a tool the wrong way up every time somebody says “cheers.” Final yr, it additionally teamed up with streetwear model Bodega to launch a minimalist smartphone centered solely on important features like calling—no apps, no digicam.
“Analysis reveals individuals are socializing lower than they did a decade in the past, and youthful generations are feeling socially drained by digital engagement,” stated De Marchi Retz. “This second allowed us to carry the message to life in a recent, related approach and reinforces Heineken’s mission to make social life extra refreshing, on-line and off.”
