W+K Amsterdam Follow 'Dropped' Heineken Fans

W+K Amsterdam Follow 'Dropped' Heineken Fans

Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam's 'The Voyage' for Heineken from earlier this year saw a dashing young chap arriving in a remote outpost where he finds himself in all sorts of awkward and bizarre situations when he loses his pet goat. Inspiring Heineken drinkers to be 'travelers, not tourists', the spot shows a man who knows how to navigate his new surroundings with ease, even if he finds himself in unfamiliar territory. But what would a real person do if found in a similar situation?
 
The answer can be found in 'Dropped', Heineken's most daring experiment to date, showing what consumers are truly made of when taken out of their daily lives and dropped into the great unknown. Real-life Man of the World candidates from different markets have been chosen and tested in adventurous environments designed to take them out of their comfort zones. The first Dropped story launched a couple of weeks ago, with a sun-loving Spaniard dropped in the middle of freezing Alaska with nothing but the clothes on his back. The second, featuring Greek dancer and yoga instructor Stavros dropped in the Cambodian jungle with nothing but a giant duck boat, has just launched. Subsequent drops will commence every three weeks for five epic journeys – all of which will be housed on Heineken's Dropped YouTube channel - www.youtube.com/heinekendropped.
 
We had a fun-filled chat with W+K's Philip Brink (Art Director) and Hugo van Woerden (Copywriter) about the campaign, the impetus to strand people in alien environments and where they would like to get Dropped.
 

 
Was the concept of 'Dropped' mooted at the same time as 'The Voyage', or did the success of that work spur it on?
 
Shooting The Voyage was like a mad Indian trip in itself. We figured, why not give every man a chance to go on an insane journey like that? Like an experiment to bring The Voyage TVC to life and put real men to the test. To see if a man could become a legendary traveller and what would become of him when dropped into the great unknown.
 
How did you go about choosing the victims subjects for the films?
 
The Dropped candidates were selected via street casting in specified markets by production agencies (with the exception of one online global casting which is now live via the Heineken YouTube channel for the USA market). The applicants are all real-life men of the world– not actors, who were only given top line information on the Heineken adventure they were embarking into.  

 
Were you ever worried that the subjects would freak out and refuse to play along? What contingencies were in place?
 
Every candidate was allowed to have a 'safe word'. That pretty much worked like your emergency break. For instance, the Greek candidate chose 'Rastapopodopolis'. Unfortunately he never got past 'Rastapopo…'.
 
How were the shoots? Were the crew involved in the activities of the traveller or were they really left to their own devices?
 
It was shot like a documentary. The crew just followed the traveller. It was as hard for the crew as it was for the candidate. He slept in the snow. We slept in the snow. He was stuck in the jungle without water. We were stuck without water. He was having lobster at the Maharaja's palace… wait, that never happened.  

 
The first set of films clock in at about 7 minutes in total. How hard was it to cut down? Were you conscious of online attention span?
 
We're kind of used to cutting down content - most of the time we have to cut back to 30 seconds, so this is actually long format for us. We made the films as short and fun as possible. I mean, we're up against cats and chipmunks.
 
Any plans on doing more with the films?
 
Starting from the launch of Alaska, subsequent drops will commence every three weeks for a total of five epic journeys – all of which will be housed on Heineken's Dropped YouTube channel -  http://www.youtube.com/heinekendropped
 

 
Where would you like to get 'Dropped'?
 
After we've finished all these crazy journeys… On a massage table.
 
What's next on the slate for you guys?

With so many unbelievably cool places in this world, 'Dropped' really is a never-ending concept so we will see where it goes after these five amazing journeys. So if you ever happen to run into a funnily dressed man on a ridiculous vehicle coming down a mountain followed by a small film crew, do say hello and have a Heineken.

Posted on 4th July 2013