Why Virgil Van Dijk and Jill Scott Raised a Heineken to Hardcore Football Fans
Celebrating a more inclusive take on the sport, football stars Virgil Van Dijk and Jill Scott raise a cold one to football fans in Heineken’s latest spot. As the brewing company builds on its ‘Fresher Football’ platform, it looks to level the playing field by making the sport a more positive space.
With a certain stereotype attached to the image of a ‘hardcore’ football fan, Nabil Nasser, the global head of Heineken® brand, explains how being a die hard fan isn’t about how you look, “it’s about how you behave, express your love for football and come together with all fans to appreciate the sport.”
Together with the Publicis agency LePub and global chief creative officer Bruno Bertelli, Heineken aims to celebrate in an inclusive way, showcasing not only all manner of fans but also people around the world. Bruno explains, “The result is a film that we believe is fresh and inspiring. And more than the film, the campaign represents fans from all over the world, not just the European ones.”
Sharing more about how they created the most recent campaign, Nabil and Bruno speak to LBB’s Nisna Mahtani.
LBB> What was Heineken keen to convey in this latest football-focused spot?
Nabil> When we say ‘real hardcore fans’, we want to challenge negative stereotypes about aggressive fans. We want to show that being a 'hardcore' fan is not about how you look, it’s about how you behave, express your love for football and come together with all fans to appreciate the sport. This could be through the odd but interesting rituals and lengths that fans go to ensure they can support the beautiful game, showing how the unexpected modern face of fandom exhibits some of the best parts of football culture, making it a more inclusive space no matter who you are.
LBB> Featuring Virgil Van Dijk and Jill Scott certainly made it memorable. How did you get them on board and involved?
Nabil> Both Jill and Virgil are champions of inclusion and diversity in football. We knew they would be a perfect fit for our 2024 campaign that looks to celebrate differences and showcase the diverse modern face of football fandom. Jill was our ambassador for the 2023 Social Swap activation in which she championed gender equality by tackling online sexist abuse in football – she was the perfect partner and well received by fans, so it made sense for her to join us again this year to continue the inclusive conversation. Virgil is a new addition to the Heineken family, he was on board as soon as he heard about our message of inclusivity and the fact we’re trying to reclaim the ‘Real Hardcore’ fans phrase.
LBB> There’s a really international feeling to the spot, why were you keen for that to come across and which markets was it created for?
Nabil> Yes, that was certainly our aim, we are running this global campaign that will help drive inclusion and diversity of fans across the world, so we didn’t want to make this TVC too location specific to ensure we can include all fans no matter where and who they are. Heineken® wants to champion fans' devotion and in their unique and wonderful ways to help bring the community closer together to celebrate differences within the beautiful game from all corners of the world.
LBB> An Australian director working on an ad for a Dutch beer, featuring a British footballer, how did that support in making the campaign as wide reaching as possible?
Bruno> We needed great storytelling and the Heineken® wittiness, and [director] Mark Molloy has the extraordinary capability to bring these two worlds together. The result is a film that we believe is fresh and inspiring. And more than the film, the campaign represents fans from all over the world, not just the European ones.
We tell the story of fans from Asia, because so many of them watch the Champions League in a different time zone. Or the story of a priest who is an Inter fan or a guy who never watches the game without his lucky socks.
Not only, Jill Scott is the perfect ambassador as a former England international, but always being vocal in promoting and empowering women in sports. So, she really reinforced the message that anyone can be a 'hardcore' fan and helped us put those fans that are not usually considered 'hardcore' in the spotlight.
LBB> Capturing the devotion of fans in a humorous and sincere way is no small feat. How did everyone work together to capture this in the pre-production, shoot and edit?
Bruno> It certainly was no small feat: it took more than one year of work and a huge effort from everyone involved to make it happen. To bring to life an audacious idea and an inspiring film you need many resources. Everyone involved played their part impressively. It hasn’t been easy to portray the passion of fans in a humorous, yet relatable way; but our aim was to reach as many 'hardcore' football fans as possible. Especially those fans that are not always considered as being 'hardcore' by common knowledge, just because they are expressing their passion for football in ways that perhaps we don’t expect. The real hardcore feature of this project is that everything that you see in the film is truly inspired by a real story.
LBB> Who was the target demographic for this spot and how was the storyline created to resonate with them?
Nabil> Our target audience is UEFA Champions League and UEFA Women’s Champions League fans who watch the competitions in every country where they can enjoy a cold Heineken® - 192 in total! We researched and developed many stories to develop this storyline. We found real stories from around the world of fans who go to amazing lengths to support their team and we picked the ones that fit well with Heineken®’s refreshing witty outlook on fan’s expression of their love for the beautiful game.
Bruno> The perception of a 'hardcore' football fan is not really that great. We always see the same fans showing up in the news and it’s not always in the best light. But what happens to the other 'hardcore' fans? There are 5 billion of them out there. That’s why we started to dig deeper and found data that proved to us that the fans' behaviour is not exactly as many people expect.
Plenty of fans name their pets after their football idols. Some others - name their kids. Millions of fans watch football on their wedding day and even more of them never watch a game without their lucky charms. To us, this was the angle of realness we wanted to portray.
LBB> Celebrating inclusion is always important, but particularly when it comes to sport. Can you talk us through some of the challenges of breaking some of the bad habits which have come from footballing culture?
Nabil> Unfortunately, football is plagued by discrimination, which we stand against. In sport, in society, anywhere. Heineken® is a forward thinking and inclusive brand that champions diversity through our campaigns and within our business. Our goal is to help make football a safe and inclusive space for all fans. We have been working with UEFA for over 25 years to achieve this. It is important to note however that we are a beer brand, and therefore can’t assume to solve as big a problem as racism in football, but we can shine a light on issues and hero the positive that inclusivity can bring to the game, which is the focus of this campaign.
LBB> Where was this spot shot and what was the pre-production process like? How did you get every set ready for shooting?
Bruno> We had five days to shoot and every day we could only shoot two or three scenes, so timing was very strict.
The pre-production part was long and we studied every detail to highlight the realness of every story, but also bring out the unexpectedness and the humour that we wanted to achieve in every scene.
The choice of actors played a key role in getting the right humour and tone of voice, but also the set design and styling.
LBB> In terms of the sound, how did you land on this track and how did it add to the sentiment of the campaign?
Bruno> We wanted to portray the unexpected real fan narrative, so we chose ‘SHOUT’ from the film Animal House which was shot in 1978. John Landis used this music back then when he shot the club scene. You can hear that the more the song plays, the more excited the people get. This is the feeling we wanted to have in the film: the true and uncontrollable love for football and the irreverent genius related to fandom.
LBB> Are there any Easter eggs which we may have missed at first glance? Can you tell us about some of the details?
Bruno> There are insights in the film that only ‘hardcore’ football fans will get.
We are talking with real football fans who know that football player Romelu transferred to Rome and this annoyed all his fans. This wasn’t an easy one. You had to know this. But that was the whole point of the campaign. We are saying cheers to the real 'hardcore' fans. And they are the ones who will appreciate this humour, that’s inspired by their real behaviour or things that happen in the football world.
We are talking to fans who relate to the girl who called her dog Totti because they also have a dog or a kid named after their favourite football player.
Another more subtle detail in the film is the priest who is rushing to end its Sunday Mass because he needs to be on time for the game. Also, the opening scene where the lawyer is reading the will and lets the family know that their dad left everything to Chelsea is inspired by a real story that was in the news not long ago - a Brazilian guy also left everything he had to his favourite football player.
LBB> Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Nabil> Heineken® is running a competition for fans to submit their weird and wonderful stories about how they express their 'hardcore' fandom. The lucky winners will attend the UEFA Champions League Final in London on 1st June 2024. All you have to do is apply via the Heineken® competition website and check the website T&Cs for eligibility and the competition process.
Bruno> We want to push even more to make the world of football more inclusive, as we have already started doing with our past campaigns that support women fans and women’s football. Now it’s a different time, the time to change how we think about 'hardcore' football fans and this is a constant commitment towards this sensitive theme.
