- With this launch, Heineken ridicules brands that launch products best enjoyed in real life in the metaverse.
- Heineken blended physical and virtual world themes at the launch events of Heineken Silver.
- Consumers in the events experienced some of the most bizarre metaverse creations before getting their beer.
Amsterdam-based Dutch brewing company Heineken has launched Heineken Silver in real life. A press release unveiled this news earlier today, noting that Heineken Silver broke out of the metaverse to become available in the real world through several exclusive launch events across Europe.
According to the news release, Heineken sought to prove that nothing surpasses the extra refreshing taste of drinking a beer in real life. The launch events were in Amsterdam, London, Madrid, and Milan. The events blended physical and digital world themes, with Heineken taking metaverse themes from its launch in Decentraland.
The in-real-life (IRL) events allowed consumers to experience some of the most unusual creations from the metaverse before enjoying their first extra-fresh taste of Heineken Silver.
On its website, the company claims Heineken Silver is brewed using an ice-cold lagering process at -1° C. The result is an accessible and unique 4% premium lager with a crisp and subtle finish with the signature fruit aroma of Heineken Original.
Ridiculing metaverse products that are best enjoyed in real-life
To make the launch events more fascinating, Heineken added collectible art pieces dubbed For Real Tokens (FTRs). The firm teamed up with J. Demsky, a renowned visual artist from Spain, to create FTRs. These collectible art pieces are Heineken’s sarcastic play on the NFT culture.
They seek to blend the physical and digital worlds to gift people with a limited-edition artwork to remind them that some moments are best experienced in the real world. The launch of Heineken Silver also seeks to ridicule brands, including itself, which release products best enjoyed in real life in the metaverse.
Explaining why Heineken decided to launch Heineken Silver in real life, Bram Westenbrink, the Global Heineken Brand Director at HEINEKEN said,
We launched Heineken® Silver in the metaverse first as an ironic take on a product launch to highlight that we believe the best way to experience Heineken® is in the real world.
He added,
Today we are really playing with this virtual to real world, with ‘phygital’ events across Europe, celebrating the new addition to the Heineken® family by delivering the best of both worlds; engaging entertainment like in the metaverse but with ‘in person’ experiences and a beer you can actually drink!
This news comes after Heineken launched Vitual Heineken Silver in Decentraland in March. Heineken describes the virtual beer as being made only from the freshest pixels. The result is an unusual and inaccessible premium lager with a tech and meta finish.
