Heineken’s Star Bottle Arrives Stateside with New Campaign

Heineken’s new taller, sleeker and starred bottle is already available in 170 countries and is now being rolled out in the United States with a new “Arrive Big” ad campaign featuring the brand’s “Man of the World” in such exotic locations as Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Lagos, Nigeria and New York City. In each location, the protagonist finds himself in prickly situations at various clubs, yet somehow ends up with the girl and the beer (and an #arrivebig hashtag, to boot) in the end.

“Our priority is to ‘break the mold’ in beer marketing with cinematic, sophisticated ads that feature our ‘Man of the World,’ a progressive, cultured guy, who is inventive in any situation,” said Colin Westcott-Pitt, vice president of Heineken, in a press release. Heineken doesn’t go so far as to pull a New Coke move and break the mold inside the bottle, of course.Continue reading...

Energy-drink brands are on their toes after a lawsuit alleging that overconsumption of Monster beverages contributed to the death of a 14-year-old girl and the revelation that the Food & Drug Administration is investigating "incident reports" introducing the possibility that as many as five people have died over the last three years from drinking Monster.

Investors slammed shares of Monster, one of the two biggest players in the energy-drink market along with leader Red Bull, sending Monster stock down by 14 percent on Monday and down another 8 percent by mid-day Tuesday. But with headlines such as "Killer Caffeine," Monster and its industry also must focus on the long-term effects of these latest developments.

Energy drinks have been in the bullseye of many nutritionists, policymakers and parents for a long time because they offer no real nutritional benefits and only basically serve as a hyped-up delivery system for caffeine that is popular with kids. U.S. retail sales of energy drinks soared 16 percent last year to nearly $9 billion, according to Beverage Digest.Continue reading...

It's water. It's booze "Alcohol-Inspired Refresher" with a dash of berry or a citrus twist. But you can call it Air. 

That's the brand name for the cutting edge of the alcoholic beverage market: carbonated water infused with alcohol and refreshing bubbles, named after the stuff that dares to defy the Helvetica fatigue.

It's a "refreshingly" simple branding in a market where "blackout drinks" carbonated alcoholic beverages once ruled.

But selling Air in a can — seriously?Continue reading...

Moskatoloko! A word of advice to Four Loko-maker Phusion Projects: if you're trying to go upmarket with a new "drinks like muscat wine" beverage brand, don't use the term "malt-based" in the press release. Yes, it seems the maker of the infamous "blackout in a can" Four Loko brand (also a "premium flavored malt beverage") is hoping to turn over a new leaf with its new product, Moskato Life.Continue reading...

"No pants day; batting, owling and planking; people thinking they are vampires and zombies; the world's gone crazy ... No! The world's gone Four Loko!"

So begins the press release for Phusion Products' new Four Loko beverage campaign, the brand's latest in an ongoing effort to clean up its image by mocking its image in the media.

In a true bit of irony, the brand is now doing almost exactly what it told us a year ago it "made a conscious effort to reject."Continue reading...

Apple loses to RIM in smartphone market in India and eyes worldwide iCloud rights as CEO Tim Cook gets ready to unveil iPhone 5.

Alibaba casts eye on Yahoo, as Yahoo signs content-sharing deal with ABC News.

Angry Birds owner Rovio loses top branding exec.

Citibank raises fees and customer hackles.

Daimler signals optimism on truck sales.

Disney's 3D version of The Lion King shoots onto top-grossers list.

England bans cigarette-vending machines ahead of UK-wide ban.

Facebook looks to increase engagement and help brands communicate better with users via new Insights analytics tool, as changes and security issues touch privacy nerve.Continue reading...

A little bit of the heat is off Four Loko as lawmakers are now focused on Pabst/Colt 45 Blast, a new energized, high alcohol content 23.5 ounce beverage that is equivalent to quaffing about five beers.

While Four Loko became a video favorite without celebrity endorsements, Blast launched in April with a high-profile partner out of the gate in Snoop Dog. An alderman and a youth group are already trying to curb sales of the beverage on Milwaukee, WI.

In Durham, NC, activists have made it a racial issue, with one minister telling the press, "They’re trying to commit genocide on the hip hop generation; their bus is really a gas chamber on wheels."

Is it all over for these mind-erasing party drinks? Maybe not.Continue reading...

So this is how they make beer in Australia! Super Hahn's comical spot was directed by Tom Kuntz, who shot that Old Spice Man spot.

Wisconsin state branding suggestion: ingenious, cheesy fashion.

Think you hate your cable operator? Not as much as the guy who spent $1,000 on a Time Warner Cable tirade.

Below: Smells like rebranded team spirit and more.Continue reading...