While teens turning 18 often have an expansive list of what they want for their birthday, beer (for better or for worse) is likely somewhere on that list.
Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) owned beer brand Harbin Beer in China (where the legal drinking age is 18), decided to fill that spot on the birthday wishlist by gifting the last person to turn 18 in China, Tian Jimo, with her own personal Harbin Beer tap and a lifetime supply of beer.
The promotion serves as a show of sympathy for Jimo who had to watch all her friends who turned 18 over the course of year enjoy a beer while she couldn’t – at least legally that is.
As the brand put it:
“While the rest of the world counted down to welcome 2019, Harbin Beer took a more personal approach and counted down to young Tian Jimo’s exact time of birth to welcome this young lady into adulthood.
Tian Jimo and Tian Jichu are none other than a pair of twins who made news as babies born across two millennia with the former entering the world at 23:59 hours on 31st December, 2000 and her twin sister born two minutes later on 1 Jan 2001, 00:01 hours.”
The promotion also built in a facial recognition feature into the tap that identifies Tian Jimo so that it can only be activated by her. BBH used photos supplied by Tian Jimo’s family and applied an IoT valve lock with AI Machine Learning to develop a beer valve that unlocks on face recognition.
While some may fairly look at this and think, A lifetime supply of beer? Really? How about a scholarship? – the reality is, people drink beer, and with all the money she will save with the lifetime supply, perhaps she can put that cash towards college herself.
Not sure where the beer tap is located – at home? Likely not permanently ensconced in the bar. Does the tap follow her around if she moves to a new flat?
While you may still be stuck back at why give a teenager beer forever and not a huge cash prize and a couple of cases? to their credit, Harbin Beer does offer a balance in promoting their suds. Last month the brand ran a popular 90-second spot starring up-and-coming Chinese actor Zhang Yishan that warned against the dangers of drunk driving to your “future self”.
Speaking about the lifetime supply of beer promotion, Arthur Tsang, chief creative officer, BBH China, said: “How often do you see a brand direct all its attention to finding just one person? It’s a wonderful way for Harbin to cement its position as the beer for legal drinking age consumers, but also to celebrate a person with a truly unique status.”
Credits
Client: Harbin Beer
Agency: BBH China
Business Lead:
Executive Chairman: Arto Hampartsoumian
Managing Partner: Elvis Li
Creative team:
Chief Creative Officer: Arthur Tsang
Executive Creative Director: Yinbo Ma
Group Creative Director: David Ding
Creative Director: Selwyn Low, Darren Leong
Associate Creative Director: Penny Wang
Senior Art Director: Anfia Lin
Senior Digital Designer: William Lin
Copywriter：Vincent Xing
Social Media Editor: Jieshao Liu
Art Director: Feng
Creative Technology Director: Neil Nand
Account team:
Group Account Director: Scarlett Xi
Senior Account Executive: Logan Lo
Planning team:
Planner: Hubert Mou
Production team:
Executive Producer: Weisian Lee
Senior Production Manager: Ken Wang
