Usually when a company wants to advertise its product, it depicts people enjoying said product. Heineken, however, has taken a different approach. And it’s brought in Sir Jackie Stewart to help get the point across.
The Dutch brewery, as you may be aware, recently inked a major sponsorship deal with Formula One that will see it serve as the series “global beer partner” and title sponsor of multiple races, starting with the Gran Premio Heineken D’Italia (otherwise known as the Italian Grand Prix) this past weekend. But as any advertising exec could tell you, that kind of sponsorship is only worth as much as you spend on promoting it, and now the beer label has released its first major television commercial highlighting its new racing partnership.
With a little computer-animated assistance, the spot traces back through Sir Jackie’s career as he refuses one green bottle after another, straight through till today. “No thanks,” says Stewart as the valet brings around his Jaguar F-Type. “I’m still driving.” It’s a powerful way to punctuate the Heineken’s “If You Drive, Never Drink” campaign, and manages to place the brand and its product in a positive light (and associate it with F1) without depicting it actually being consumed.
A man who should require no introduction, Sir John Young Stewart (better known as Jackie) competed in F1 in the 1960s and ’70s. He won 27 grands prix and three world championships, making him one of only 16 multiple champs in the history of the sport and tied with the likes of Jack Brabham, Niki Lauda, Nelson Piquet (Sr.), Ayrton Senna and Lewis Hamilton in the record books of three-time world champions. He and fellow Scottish former grand prix pilot David Coulthard serve as brand ambassadors for Heineken’s F1 campaign.