Post-lockdown creativity: Heineken’s Lockdown Love Story is a much-needed tonic

Has Cannes chosen its Creative Advertiser of the Year yet? Think that’s what it’s called.

Heineken must be a contender: Publicis Italia has produced a string of cheery ads, including this one which celebrates a ‘Lockdown Love Story,’ without pushing the beer down your throat (although it makes a telling last few seconds appearance.) Shot in Japan by Show Yanagisawa.

Heineken’s Bram Westenbrink says: “Since the start of the pandemic, and the launch of our ‘Socialise Responsibly’ platform, Heineken has been creating campaigns that aim to inspire people to get out and support their local bars and nightlife venues once it is safe to do so. A Lockdown Love Story does exactly that, creating a time-capsule of how we maintained connections during the pandemic and providing an optimistic outlook to the new and surprising opportunities that await as bars and nightlife venues return to normal.”

Director Yanagisawa says: “A Lockdown Love Story is an incredibly uplifting and hopeful campaign that I think will really connect with audiences because it’s a story we can all relate to in some way. We really wanted to capture the excitement of being able to go out, meet new people, and experience new things again.”

Let’s hope they’re both right.

Amazing how a good tune helps these things along.

Could hardly have been done better – which indicates:

MAA creative scale: 9.