Top 5 beer brands that did cool social stuff during the World Cup

Image courtesy of Rick Chung

The World Cup has officially come to a close and Germany are victorious. But it is no secret that the winning team is known for another, arguably much more important skill that dates back thousands of years: making great beer. It’s also no coincidence that in the home of the World Cup champions, beer sales increased by 15% throughout the course of the tournament. So raise a glass, it’s time to talk about the top 5 beer brands doing cool stuff during the World Cup. Beer.

1) Heineken, #braziliannoshow

A few brands cottoned onto utilizing this hashtag, but Heineken were the biggest advocates. The hashtag was created in response to World Cup scheduling, as for New Yorkers (and other EST dwellers) the US vs. Germany game fell during lunch hours. The hashtag, which promoted extra long lunch hours so that New Yorkers could support their team, went viral, leading Gov. Andrew Cuomo to publish a letter via social media allowing an extended break for New York State employees. It’s anyone’s guess as to how much money the US lost during its temporary work hiatus, but Heineken’s use of the hashtag as a means to unite over soccer and long lunches certainly outweighs the negative.

2) Bud Light  

Bud Light’s twitter page has been a joy to behold throughout the World Cup. During tournament the brand has posted funny and relevant pictures seamlessly combining beer and soccer into one endlessly entertaining social narrative. In doing so, Bud Light also helped to spread official hashtags such as #WorldCupFinal and #GER when Germany secured the title.  

3) Coors Light, “Get Your Game Face On”

Coors Light posted to their social channels on July 8, encouraging their communities to share their best ‘game face’ in preparation for the Brazil vs. Germany game. This was a simple, one-off idea that generated lots of social shares and engagement, and captured a nation’s pre-game tension.

4)  Carling, #CarlingPrediction

For the World Cup final only Carling were giving away a whole crate (A WHOLE CRATE!) of Carling to lucky so-and-sos who correctly predicted the Germany vs. Argentina score in a tweet referencing #CarlingPrediction. This arguably would have been a far more cost-efficient activation for Carling had they picked the Brazil vs. Germany game. Nevertheless, as simple and short lived as this seemingly off-the-cuff campaign was, it generated plenty of entries, RTs, and engagement. And presumably made a few of the final afterparties a lot more enjoyable.

5) Fosters, ‘Home Sweet Home’

Fosters hails from Australia, a country not renowned for soccer exploits (though we’ll watch that Tim Cahill volley again and again). So it wasn’t too surprising when Fosters picked the moment that Australia were sent home as their chance to engage in the World Cup conversation. This cheeky little tweet went on to spark an between Estrella, Peroni, Carling and Kronenbourg, brands that hail from Spain, Italy, England (sort of) and France respectively – all countries that were knocked out of the competition early.

So there it is; 5 beer brands that we enjoyed during the World Cup. Now, who else feels like a pint?

Zach is an intern in our New York office – so to English readers… ‘scuse the funky spellings :)

Posted on July 17, 2014 by Zach
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