Heineken’s new effort, “Dropped,” aims to inspire men to become explorers, not just tourists. The beer brand is releasing a series of documentary-style “social experiments” that will see four guys dropped into challenging adventures, all to trigger their intrinsic survival mechanisms and motivate them to open new horizons.
The participants of the reality TV-series are dropped into tough places—ready or not, they will have to make their way to the certain destinations across the bizarre terrains, among strange locals. Each “dropped” show on the project’s official YouTube channel will include three episodes, depicting the men’s adventures.
The first installation features sun-loving and cold-hating Rikar from Madrid, taken to Alaska by a red Heineken helicopter, who didn’t know where he was going. Left in the middle of snowy nowhere, he has to get to the airport to fly back home. At the start he has only some unsuitable supplies (like a tuxedo), directions and the lots of enthusiasm. On his way to the target location, Rikar encounters a number of “engineered situations” that include enjoying a Heineken on a boat and driving a dog sled. Above is the video narration; one can also find an interactive map that shows the guy’s progress.
Heineken wants the Dropped series to start a real social movement, encouraging men to experience the pleasure of unexpected in their travels. To promote the “Legends aren’t born, they’re dropped” idea, the brand is inviting the audience to infuse their lives with the adventure philosophy and share their experiences with public using the #DROPPED hashtag. By June 17, the U.S. consumers, “who never take the bus, but take chances” can upload brief Vimeo, Vine or Tout videos outlining their own legendary take on a regular journey. The winner of the competition will be invited to join the team of the “dropped” guys, and his Heineken experience will follow Rikar’s story as well as the two other voyages set to appear on the project’s channel in June and July.
“We want to go further than inspiring men to be resourceful and open to the world. We are giving a few of them the opportunity to go beyond the borders of their comfort zone. Dropped is a social experiment that will challenge the participant to display their true character and if they do, have a legendary travel experience,” commented the Heineken global communications director, Sandrine Huijgen.
The Dropped project is built into the brand’s ongoing campaign Legends, which puts the Man of the World into action-packed epic adventures in the adverts. The brand has released the fifth advertisement in the series, The Voyage, which sees the protagonist getting around in the flamboyant Indian settings among an array of characters including a palm reader, a girl offering hot spicy meals, dancing people, an ornamented elephant and many more. He doesn’t have any plan, but he has a goal—to grab two Heineken bottles—and a positive attitude, and that’s all he needs to succeed. The Voyage spot, created by W+K Amsterdam, has been viewed nearly 5,000 times on YouTube since May 31, while the previous one, The Final, has amassed over 8.2m+ hits in just two months.