Couples Feel 'Tainted Love' in Heineken Ireland's Rugby Champions Cup Spot

Heineken Ireland has today launched ‘The Perfect Match’ TVC, which will air for the first time this weekend. 

The campaign was created by Publicis Dublin for Heineken Ireland and includes TV, data-informed digital, social and trade/shopper marketing executions. Celebrating Heineken’s decades’ long support of rugby, the TVC - which was filmed by director Karien Cherry and produced by Outsider – focusses on rivalry, and follows three couples, pitted against each other as their different Rugby teams face off. As tensions rise, viewers watch them press pause on love while their teams battle it out.

The TVC marks the start of a busy, integrated campaign period for Heineken sport, with the knockout stages of the Heineken Champions Cup taking place in April and May, before the delayed staging of the Heineken-sponsored Euro 2020 begins in June. 

Jimmy Murphy, business director at Publicis commented: “It’s very unusual for local markets to create campaigns of this size for Heineken® (the brand is headquartered in Amsterdam) and so we were keenly aware of the incredibly high creative and production standards demanded by such an iconic brand. Although it was concepted and produced by Publicis Dublin for Heineken Ireland, we worked closely with our colleagues in Heineken Global and Publicis Groupe to make sure we hit the mark. We’re very happy with the campaign.” 

Ronan McCormack, senior brand manager, Heineken Ireland, said: “It’s been a challenging 12 months for everybody but at Heineken® Ireland, we are looking forward to some better times ahead and the return of that special match day occasion in the On Trade. This advert taps into that via the world of relationships and rivalries and how they often co-exist. The Heineken® brand is known the world over and particularly here in Ireland, our support for rugby remains as strong as ever. Alongside our Irish agency partners, we’re excited to launch this new ad campaign and look forward to a busy few months of top-class rugby.” 

‘The Perfect Match’ brand campaign was developed by Publicis Dublin and Heineken Ireland, in collaboration with agency partners Thinkhouse and Red Star. Heineken has enjoyed a long and rich heritage in rugby for over 20 years as a title partner of the Heineken Champions Cup.