{"id":8004,"date":"2017-05-15T08:00:09","date_gmt":"2017-05-15T12:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/?p=8004"},"modified":"2018-08-09T16:07:11","modified_gmt":"2018-08-09T20:07:11","slug":"where-heineken-flourished-and-pepsi-failed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/2017\/05\/15\/where-heineken-flourished-and-pepsi-failed\/","title":{"rendered":"Where Heineken Flourished and Pepsi Failed"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s a good chance Pepsi has been the butt of your jokes for the last few weeks. The brand created an <\/span>ad<\/span><\/a>, which if you haven\u2019t seen, involved Kendall Jenner solving world peace by handing a cop a Pepsi during a protest. This attempt to produce meaningful content with a unifying message failed miserably. Yet, Heineken just put out a <\/span>commercial<\/span><\/a> with a similar message of unifying consumers over a beverage and a majority of audiences are responding <\/span>positively. Why is that?<\/span><\/p>\n

\"a-heineken-commercial-puts-pepsis-protest-ad-to-shame\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In Heineken\u2019s ad, two strangers with opposite views on climate change, feminism and transgender rights meet and are made to hear out each other\u2019s respective views. This kind of subject matter is impossible to begin to discuss within\u00a0the timeframe of a beer commercial. However, the encouragement of dialogue was a responsible way to address unification. <\/span><\/p>\n

Commercials that attempt to address societal ills, which companies themselves have no true interest in fixing, should aim to start more important conversations about social predicaments rather than minimizing protest movements. Here are some tips for producing mindful content in this activist era:<\/span><\/p>\n