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...

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...

Boys and girls, do you want to see how spin is done? Then crack open a Four Loko, kick back, and listen to how the under-fire beverage brand's latest mobile app, which makes it easier for consumers to find Four Loko, is pitched as a "responsible" safety service. That's right — the now banned in four states caffeinated energy drink is going mobile.Continue reading...

Airstream peddles premium RVs in a recession.

AOL unveils beta version of new email hub. as Facebook rolls out email service.

Apple brings mobile iAds to Europe this week.

Arcelor expresses interest in buying Massey.

BHP Billiton withdraws its takeover bid for Potash in the wake of Canadian-government opposition.

Caterpillar to buy Bucyrus in $8.6 billion deal.

Daily Beast's Tina Brown begins transforming Newsweek, including plans to fold (update: incorporate) its website.Continue reading...