The Cerveza Cristal effect: What happens when memes and brands entwine

These were devised in order to avoid any commercial breaks in the films and were originally broadcast on Chilean television in 2004, before being withdrawn after understandable challenges from Lucasfilm who felt it misrepresented the original intent of the scenes.

Around 2003 in Chile, when the original trilogy of Star Wars began airing on television there, they did this funny thing to avoid cutting to commercial breaks. They stitched the commercials into the films themselves. Here is one of them, with the English dub added in. pic.twitter.com/wC7N2vPNvv

— Windy (@heyitswindy) March 2, 2024

While gaining worthy praise at the time (it won a Cannes Grand Prix Lion for the advertising agency OMD Chile, among other industry awards), the recent pop-cultural resurgence after being reposted on ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) has inspired a universe of meme content.

Memes, artistry, and AI

The original clever execution blended entertainment and advertisement in a bite-sized approach that was way ahead of its time. Now, twenty years later, the campaign is providing organically generated buzz for the Cerveza Cristal brand in a vastly evolved digital ecosystem.

This memeification is interesting for a few reasons (beyond the fun of the ice-cold beer-grasping chuckle and catchy jingle). No doubt the first reaction for those who missed the original Chilean campaign is a head turn (what was that? Am I dreaming? Did someone F&%* up? Was this created by a clever influencer with the help of AI?) It’s certainly opened up a dialogue surrounding authenticity in the age of new AI artistry and has some considerable further potential for organic market engagement which blurs the lines of branded content.

Many of these memes used newly available AI image and video tools to craft variations, like a take on Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two in which Paul Atreides’ challenge is to overcome the Cerveza Cristal at the heart of the Bene Gesserit pain box:

cerveza cristal pic.twitter.com/k90TsBmoWu

— cartier (@kennetzio) March 5, 2024

Of course, if the campaign were fresh today, AI tools would be used to seamlessly integrate the beer scenes with the original Star Wars footage.

How memeification raises creative standards

Now that users and audiences can generate content which once required a team of artists, audience-generated content will continue to increase in quality. So will the potential for organic engagement. It’s up to brands and their creative partners to leverage the same tools in smarter and more robust ways, and to engage audiences on a deeper, intellectual level. These forms of ingenuity can be the driving force for creative production agencies who continue to be the most important partners to brands and their advertisers.

The clever use of crafted ‘found footage’ in the Cerveza Cristal campaign is a celebration of nostalgia itself as a powerful creative force. The internet’s response reflects a continuing growth and idolization of nostalgia as creative capital to be leveraged by brands and content creators.

While nostalgia is by no means a new phenomenon, what’s new now is our access to powerful AI tools which allow marketers to craft high-quality activations in creative, engaging, and hyperreal ways (and more quickly, with increasing robust budgets). And it’s important for creative agencies to recognize that creative ideas and story will always be the heart of any impactful engagement. These tools can help bring those ideas to life in exciting and new ways. As we’ve recently learned, even Superman appears to be no match for the limitless power of this smartly crafted campaign.

The future of brand and content integration?

And another one! #cervezacristal https://t.co/IZHhg7q4C3

— christhebarker (@christhebarker) March 6, 2024

The (seemingly) organically renewed interest and continued buzz around the brand also raises questions around protecting brand IP. Distinctions between content and advertisement will continue to blur as barriers to large-scale content creation continue to fall. Even Marty McFly from Back to the Future thinks Cerveza Cristal was ahead of the curve; the campaign is proving to be a prophetic case-study for the future of brand and content integration.

Cerveza Cristal marketing team putting ads in Star Wars movies for the first time pic.twitter.com/kd2eeE57QH

— the thicc husband & father (@lukeisamazing) March 6, 2024

If the meme keeps its momentum – even Stephen Colbert featured it on a recent show intro – perhaps we’ll see a day when we click on a link expecting to find Rick Astley crooning loudly, but instead be greeted with an oversized hand digging a bottle of Cerveza Cristal out of an ice filled cooler.

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