Following a successful first year, Heineken UK and ITV have renewed their innovative product placement partnership that sees alcohol-free beer Heineken 0.0 on draught in Emmerdale’s Woolpack and Coronation Street’s Rover’s Return.
The renewed deal means Heineken 0.0 Draught will feature on the bar in both TV pubs, alongside fictional beers like Newton & Ridley and Ephraim Monk, for at least the next 18 months.
When the original partnership was announced in April 2022, it signified a number of firsts – not least the fact that Heineken 0.0 became the first real-world beer to appear in Coronation Street and Emmerdale.
The tie-up was lauded as a significant step forward in helping to normalise alcohol-free beer among consumers and make it more visible and acceptable in the UK.
Savanta data released in April 2023 corroborated those predictions. Aided by coverage in the mainstream media, 8.4 hours of on screen airtime, and 22 on-screen orders (verbal and non-verbal) of a ‘pint of zero’ by characters during the first year, 75% of Coronation Street viewers and 77% of Emmerdale viewers agreed with the statement that ‘drinking low and no alcohol beer in pubs is becoming more and more normal’. In addition, 62% of viewers aware of the product placement partnership across both shows said it ‘made them want to find out more about Heineken 0.0’.
In recent years, Heineken has led the charge in raising the profile of no and low alcohol beer and change perceptions of the category. Heineken 0.0 is now available in thousands of pubs across the UK.
James Crampton, Corporate Affairs Director for Heineken UK, commented: “We’re absolutely thrilled with the success of the partnership, and to continue to make alcohol-free beer more visible. We are totally committed to bringing no and low alcohol beer from the periphery into the mainstream – and the data shows that this partnership is having a real impact. That collective mind-shift is happening. Emmerdale and Coronation Street have huge cultural currency – people are seeing their favourite characters order pints of 0.0 in the Rover’s Return and Woolpack and it’s helping make it permissible for them in their real lives.”
