It was in this galaxy—and only about 20 years ago—that the marketing team for Chilean beer Cerveza Cristal had a clever and quirky idea. The brand edited the beer advertisement directly into the original television broadcast. star Wars trilogy.
Instead of watching a commercial break, viewers could watch New Hope or The Empire Strikes Back was broadcast continuously on free-to-air Channel 13, but there was a catch. At one point, Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi tells young Luke Skywalker about his father’s heroism and prepares to give the boy his father’s lightsaber. In the next, he opens an old chest, which turns out to be not the weapon of a seasoned warrior, but a refrigerator with ice-cold beer. There is a disturbance in the Force, and the film: the Cerveza Cristal logo appears in the center of the screen, its memorable ringing sounds in the background.
At that time the idea was hailed as a “genius” judges of the Cannes International Advertising Festival, who awarded OMD Santiago, then the advertising agency of Cristal Beer, the Grand Prix. But despite the acclaim, the 2003 clips had faded into obscurity – until they resurfaced on X this week:
Around 2003 in Chile, when the original Star Wars trilogy started airing on television, they did this funny thing to avoid commercial breaks. They sewed advertisements into films themselves. Here’s one with the English dub added. pic.twitter.com/wC7N2vPNvv
— Windy 🛸 (@heyitswindy) March 2, 2024
The site exploded memes. Photoshop Cerveza Cristal in famous film franchises such as Dune And Lord of the Rings spread throughout the site.
Cerveza Cristal’s free social media advertising comes at a crucial time for Compañía de las Cervecerías Unidas, the parent company of Cerveza Cristal, which has had a bad year, according to the company. fourth quarter earnings report last month. Net income fell more than 10% compared to 2022, and sales fell more than 25% compared to the fourth quarter of 2022. The company was hurt in part by the strong Chilean peso, which meant CCU could not maximize earnings from exports, including to the United States. Over the past five years, the company’s market capitalization has fallen from $5.27 billion To $2.17 billion.
But beer brands across the board are suffering, largely because inflation-driven price increases are driving away customers. Beer prices have increased almost 6% from April 2022 to 2023 and more than 70% since 2000.
CCU’s problems are compounded by the enemies it has made in the industry. In December, Chilean craft brewers joined the independent brewers association, introducing antitrust case v. CCU, alleging that the Chilean beer giant had agreed with bars and restaurants to limit access to competing brands. Anheuser-Busch InBev is suing CCU in a similar case. Bloomberg reported.
And these are not even the first legal problems that the creators of Cerveza Cristal have encountered. Twenty years ago, the beer brand found itself in hot water over the very tricks that brought it so much attention this week.
This is a (legal) trap
Cerveza Cristal’s stunt may have impressed advertising experts, but it didn’t impress LucasFilm, which filed a complaint against the company for violating the Chilean Advertising Code of Ethics.
Complaint received Luck through Konaror the Chilean Council for Self-Regulation and Advertising Ethics, argued that the advertisement created a false impression among an audience consisting of a significant number of minors that the advertised product was related to films. Films broadcast on Channel 13 are protected by Chilean copyright and intellectual property laws.
“Viewers are mistakenly led to believe that the film contains a reference to the product (Cerveza Cristal), which causes undeniable surprise to the viewer while at the same time preventing the viewer from changing the channel during the commercial space,” the complaint states. said.
LucasFilm won the case. Dan Croxall, a craft beer law expert and professor at McGeorge Law School at the University of the Pacific, said Luck that in intellectual property cases like this, a clever joke or an extra layer of brand recognition simply isn’t worth the risk.
“It makes you laugh – instead of a lightsaber it’s a beer bottle or something – and it’s creative, but it’s someone else’s creativity,” he said.
LucasFilm and CCU did not respond to messages. Luckrequests for comments.
Croxall said that despite the legal confusion, CCU’s attempt would be a pretty good marketing strategy if done within the legal parameters.
The beer market, especially craft beer, crowded almost from 10,000 craft breweries in the US as of 2022, according to the Brewers Association. With a mature industry and large brewing companies controlling over 65% of the market, it is becoming increasingly difficult to differentiate your brand from others. In the past, microbreweries and craft beer companies have used images of ’90s hip-hop icons and sports teams to brand their products, sometimes without a license, Croxall said. Misuse of intellectual property, as demonstrated in LucasFilm’s lawsuit, is ill-advised, but trying to associate a recognizable name or brand with your own makes sense.
“The more attention is paid, the more likely it is that the outlet decision will be made in your favor,” he said. In other words, if consumers are somehow aware of your product, they will be more likely to buy it.
While Croxall doubts the meme revival will have a long-term impact on the brand’s success, he argues it could be an effective attempt to appeal to Generation Z. The younger generation has a bitter view of beer, preferring cannabis or not drinking at all for health reasons. However, zoomers will engage in memes, as evidenced by the pandemic-era meme revolution. Beer companies will have to resonate with younger consumers who don’t crave their products.
“If there’s a hot new brewery trying to reach Gen Z, I’m going to try to associate myself with things that resonate with them,” Croxall said. “I would just be very careful about doing it on the legal side.”