Heineken has done an interesting education campaign for saving the bees. They made Cider of the future. By filling their cider bottles with water and inviting people for a party they demonstrated how dull the world would be without bees. Good idea, great execution. Creative artists deserve praise.
I too would like to applaud and give my thumbs-up. Unfortunately, I somehow can’t. Imagining this campaign is done by a producer who thinks cider is a cocktail of: water, apple juice extract, glucose syrup, sugar, colouring - ordinary caramel, pH regulator - malic acid, carbon dioxide, antioxidant - potassium metabisulfite and natural apple aroma, my enthusiasm wanes.
Each producer should firstly be concerned with the quality of their products and as an afterthought, saving the world. Most likely I wouldn’t be thankful to a plumber who seals my water tap with chewing gum. The fact he came by bike, recycles waste and planted some trees in the city park is cool, but my tap is dripping. I’m paying him for sparing me the unpleasant sound of dripping and for lowering my water and sewer rates.
The sad thing is that these marketing activities are often backed up by good projects, non-profit organisations or independent institutions. However, benefits earned in these campaigns often scatter away quicker than the bitter aftertaste they leave.
But every cloud has a silver lining. I’ve finally found a Heineken product whose ingredients I don’t have to check and one I would definitely like. Pity you can’t buy it.