In early 2017, Heineken’s London ad agency created a five-minute video called “Worlds Apart” that brought together pairs of strangers with — unknown to them — diametrically different political views. Not told anything about the person they were paired with, they were placed in a room and given a loose script to follow to get to know each other, an assignment to assemble some simple furniture together and instructions to finish up by drinking a beer. The video revealed that people who could have been expected to quickly reject each other (e.g. a right wing guy and a left wing feminist) bonded.
Five years have passed since the campaign premiered and I checked in with Netherlands-based Jan Willem Vosmeer, Heineken’s CSR Manager, for the company’s current thinking on a campaign that still has social scientists talking about what it can teach about reducing political polarization.
David Hessekiel: Why did Heineken create the Worlds Apart campaign back in 2017?
Jan-Willem Vosmeer: For the makers of this campaign, it was created during a period of time when polarization in the world was prevalent. Now, six years on, this is even more the case, exacerbated by events like the pandemic. So, I think the Worlds Apart campaign was actually quite ahead of the game when it launched in 2017. At Heineken® we are operating in such a social domain - our products are all about sparking real-world connections and sociability. We wanted to get people involved in the debate. So, I think it made perfect sense that Heineken played the role of facilitator to the important conversations that took place, rather than leading with the brand – as is often the case in brand marketing.
Jan-Willem Vosmeer of Heineken
David Hessekiel: What were public reactions to it? What did leaders at Heineken think of it?
Jan-Willem Vosmeer: What was really interesting was how it was picked up so quickly and how viral it went. There was a hugely positive reaction. It was fantastic to see how, despite this ultimately being a brand campaign, the discussion wasn’t focused on Heineken itself, but on the topic we were aiming to highlight.
People discussed the fact that it is really important to listen to the stories of the people that you meet so you don’t judge them too quickly. There is so much more that connects us than divides us and we could see this in the reaction to the campaign which is great as it showed how well the message was coming across. Internally at Heineken, we are first-and-foremost consumers ourselves, so we saw a similar reaction from our leaders too. Of course, the campaign was an experiment, so the team was very courageous to take on this challenge and they did a fantastic job. To see the reaction to it be so positive was wonderful for us.
Heineken's 2017 Worlds Apart campaign impressed many with its approach to decreasing political ... [+]
David Hessekiel: Reaction to the campaign was very positive among many people in the corporate social impact community, but it appears to have been a “once and done” initiative, Why?
Jan-Willem Vosmeer: It may seem as though it was a once-and-done initiative because there hasn’t been a second iteration of the Worlds Apart campaign in the same format. And I think that is right – it’s often hard to recreate exactly the same impact once you have done something already, especially when this campaign was so dependent on first-hand reactions.But that’s not to say that the themes and motivations behind the Worlds Apart campaign haven’t been seen in other campaigns from across the HEINEKEN group.
Our purpose and brand values still stand.For example, Amstel has developed multiple campaigns in this area in Latin America specifically, such as the 'Amigos Para Siempre' campaign that celebrates the diversity of fans in football and highlights the fact that despite the differences between them, they are all united by their shared passion for the sport. Additionally, its ‘I Am What I am’ campaign aimed to remind LGBTQIA+ people of their strength and value. This campaign celebrates journeys of people in the community by presenting authentic stories of directors and artists – including drag superstar Pabllo Vittar.
Similarly, Heineken launched its ‘Cheers To All Fans’ campaign in 2022, which aimed to challenge gender stereotypes in football for not only players but fans too. Again, this campaign was designed to challenge bias and prejudices with the aim to inspire people to be more open-minded. Another example is the recent launch of Heineken Silver across Europe, which was launched – rather ironically – in the metaverse, before being launched “for real” shortly afterwards. This campaign was designed to highlight the fact that, whilst the metaverse is a great platform to bring people together, the best place to connect over a beer is in the real world. Again, bringing to life Heineken’s ultimate purpose of creating refreshing, social moments of connection over a beer.
David Hessekiel: The "Worlds Apart" ad was judged the most successful intervention at reducing animosity between people with very different political views in a competition at Stanford University in 2022. What do you think of that?
Jan-Willem Vosmeer: It’s amazing to see that the campaign is still having an impact years after its launch....It’s great to see this campaign having its effectiveness scientifically proven, an unexpected byproduct from a brand campaign and advert! As I said, to see Worlds Apart still having an impact, especially in academic circles, gives credence to the campaign and the power it can have. We believe in adding value to our consumers’ lives through facilitating real-world connections and socialising responsibly. The fact that the campaign was actually proven to decrease polarisation in conversations between people is testament to this belief and something we endeavour to continue.
David Hessekiel: Any plans for building on Worlds Apart?
Jan-Willem Vosmeer: We know that in the world there is a constant divide and, social media has meant that you can connect with more people than ever before – however this can also bring more isolation. In the spirit of our purpose, we organised a Togetherness Accelerator in September 2022, bringing together experts from around the world who specialise in this topic, along with colleagues from across different parts of the business. The accelerator was designed for us to garner insights into what actions can we take to support depolarisation, and we are digesting these results and translating them into action. The most important thing to come out of both the Worlds Apart campaign and the Togetherness Accelerator is proof that being open to the world and bringing people together will be a continuous red thread in our communications as it is vital for our purpose as a company.
