Disclaimer: I like and drink Heineken beer, in moderation, and I have written about this great Dutch beer before. However, I am not on Heineken’s payroll—I wish I was.
I don’t know much about Heineken’s business practices, except that Heineken has defined seven areas on which the company believes it should focus its energy in order to maximize benefits for society, the stakeholders and the company.
One of the seven areas is “Responsible beer consumption.”
While this may be just a slogan with some beer producers, I believe that Heineken takes this responsibility very seriously, as reflected in its various corporate programs and campaigns to promote responsible beer consumption, especially by young people.
Heineken claims as part of its corporate responsibility:
Beer is part of a balanced, healthy lifestyle and has been for thousands of years. That is why we are rightly proud to have enjoyment as one of our core Heineken company values. However, society is also confronted with the negative aspects of alcohol when it is abused or misused by a minority of consumers. Therefore, as one of the world’s leading brewers, we – along with all other stakeholders – have a responsibility to play our part in reducing alcohol-related harm.
In support of such a responsibility, Heineken has introduced several unique pro-active approaches to encourage responsible beer consumption. One such example is its program in Thailand where Heineken has formed partnerships with government and industry organizations to help raise awareness on alcohol and road safety.
However, the other day I came across a unique, light-hearted and, in my opinion, very effective program.
The program is called “Know the Signs,” and is according to Heineken “the world’s first international, digital, interactive responsibility campaign.”
“‘Know the signs” consists of interactive videos showing young people displaying various types of behavior after consuming various amounts of (Heineken) beer. The message to young people (The target audience is young people from legal drinking age up to 35 year-olds) that the program aims to send is simply: know your limits and avoid being an embarrassment to yourself and your friends.
This campaign is different to other campaigns I have seen because of its interactivity. It encourages young people to engage in the various scenes and hopefully —through engagement rather than being preached to—get the message that having one too many could ruin the evening for themselves and their friends.
The website has been a huge success with young people.
If you have “young ones” who may need a little more information and awareness in this area (or are yourself one of them), I highly recommend visiting the site “Know the Signs.”
Whatever you think of alcohol consumption or of big corporations engaged in that business, I think you and yours will certainly enjoy the way Heineken is trying to encourage responsible beer drinking. You can even send animated messages to your friends who may need some “guidance.”
