Good Times Don't End with Dry January in Heineken Campaign Starring Gareth Bale

Publicis•Poke has teamed up with Heineken 0.0 and football legend Gareth Bale to create a brand-new spot which focuses on the good times that going alcohol-free can bring – and how it doesn’t have to mean the end of your social life this January.  

Created by Publicis•Poke, 20” spot ‘Don’t Bale on Your Mates’, sees a group of friends ‘baling’ on their plans throughout the month, offering up fake excuses to avoid drinking. By the end, the group has realised they shouldn’t avoid having a good time just because they’re not drinking and one of them joins their friends in the local pub to enjoy a Heineken 0.0. They share a laugh whilst showing that they didn’t ‘Gareth Bale’ on their plans, only for the man himself to turn around in mock anger at the play on his name.  

The idea behind the campaign comes from the insight that people are likely to make excuses to avoid going out. The concept of the work revolves around these excuses, often made up on the spot, before communicating to those who are trying to stay alcohol-free that they don’t need to avoid the pub – they can enjoy a Heineken 0.0 with friends. 

The film will run in the UK on social-first cut-downs across Heineken’s social media channels, and aims to draw attention to what Heineken 0.0 enables you to do, not prevents you from – allowing people to keep meeting up and having fun without breaking any of their resolutions.   

Chris Bruney, creative director at Publicis•Poke, said, “Even with the zero-alcohol category rising in popularity, there’s still a stigma to cutting back on drinking that causes people to make excuses to avoid being around alcohol. Publicis•Poke worked with Heineken 0.0 to try to break that cycle whilst bringing a bit of humour to the conversation, and show people that they don’t have to ‘Bale’ on their mates just because they’re not drinking”. 

Stephanie Dexter, brand director Heineken® at HEINEKEN UK commented, “The alcohol-free category has always been about less, but we wanted to show with this campaign that Heineken 0.0 enables you to do more of what you love, like socialise with friends down the pub. With Heineken 0.0, you can keep your January resolutions and still be part of the fun. There is no need to Bale on social plans when you have the choice of low/no products”.