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In this galaxy\u2014and only about 20 years ago\u2014the marketing team behind Chilean beer Cerveza Cristal had a clever and bizarre idea. The brand edited advertisements for the beer directly into television broadcasts of the original Star Wars<\/em> trilogy.<\/p>\n Instead of watching an ad break, viewers could watch A New Hope<\/em> or The Empire Strikes Back<\/em> uninterrupted on free-to-air Channel 13, but there was a catch. One moment, Jedi master Obi-Wan Kenobi tells a young Luke Skywalker about his father\u2019s heroics and prepares to gift the young boy with his father\u2019s lightsaber. In the next, he opens an old chest to reveal not a weapon of a seasoned warrior, but a cooler of ice-cold beer. There\u2019s a disturbance in the Force, and the film: The Cerveza Cristal logo appears in the center of the screen, its catchy jingle ringing in the background.<\/p>\n At the time, the idea was hailed as \u201cgenius\u201d<\/a> by the judges for the Cannes International Advertising Festival, who awarded OMD Santiago, Cristal Beer\u2019s ad agency at the time, the Grand Prix. But despite the acclaim, the clips, originally from 2003, faded into obscurity\u2014until this week when they resurfaced on X:<\/p>\n 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<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Windy \ud83d\udef8 (@heyitswindy) March 2, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n The site erupted with memes<\/a>. Photoshops of Cerveza Cristal into famous movie franchises like <\/em>Dune<\/em><\/a> and Lord of the Rings<\/em><\/a> <\/em>proliferated across the site.<\/p>\n The free advertising for Cerveza Cristal via social media comes at a crucial time for Compa\u00f1\u00eda de las Cervecer\u00edas Unidas, Cerveza Cristal\u2019s parent company, which had a poor year, according to its fourth-quarter earnings report<\/a> last month. Net income fell over 10% compared to 2022, and sales plummeted over 25% from 2022\u2019s year\u2019s fourth quarter. The company was in part hurt by a strong Chilean peso, which meant CCU could not maximize revenue for exports, including to the U.S. Over the past five years, the company\u2019s market capitalization plummeted from $5.27 billion<\/a> to $2.17 billion<\/a>.<\/p>\n But beer brands across the board<\/a> are suffering, largely due to inflation-induced price hikes turning off customers. Beer prices rose almost 6%<\/a> from April 2022 to 2023, and over 70% since 2000.<\/p>\n CCU\u2019s troubles have been compounded by the foes it\u2019s made in the industry. In December, Chilean craft brewers joined the association of independent brewers in bringing an antitrust case<\/a> against CCU, arguing the Chilean beer giant made arrangements with bars and restaurants to limit the access of competing brands. Anheuser-Busch InBev<\/a> is suing CCU in a similar case, Bloomberg<\/em> reported.<\/p>\n And these aren\u2019t even the first legal troubles the makers of Cerveza Cristal have faced. Twenty years ago, the beer brand was in legal hot water for the very gimmicks that earned it so much attention this week.<\/p>\n Cerveza Cristal\u2019s stunt may have impressed advertising experts, but it did not impress LucasFilm, which filed a complaint against the company for violating the Chilean Code of Ethics Advertising.<\/p>\n The complaint, obtained by Fortune<\/em> through Conar<\/a>, or Chile\u2019s Council for Self-Regulation and Advertising Ethics, argued that the advertisements gave the false impression to the audience, composed of a significant number of minors, that the product advertised was associated with the films. The films that Channel 13 broadcasts were protected under Chile\u2019s copyright and intellectual property laws.<\/p>\n \u201cViewers are wrongly led to think that the film includes a reference to the product (Cerveza Cristal), causing an unquestionable surprise to the viewer and at the same time, denying them the possibility of changing the channel during the advertising space,\u201d the complaint said.<\/p>\n LucasFilm won the case. Dan Croxall, a craft beer law expert and professor at the University of the Pacific\u2019s McGeorge School of Law, told Fortune<\/em> that, in intellectual property cases similar to this, a clever gag or added layer of brand recognition just isn\u2019t worth the risk.<\/p>\n \u201cIt brings up chuckle\u2014instead of a lightsaber, it\u2019s a bottle of beer or whatever\u2014and it\u2019s creative, but it\u2019s somebody else\u2019s creativity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n LucasFilm and CCU did not respond to Fortune<\/em>\u2019s requests for comment.<\/p>\n Croxall said that despite the legal snafu, CCU\u2019s attempt would be a pretty good marketing strategy\u2014if done within legal parameters.<\/p>\n The beer market, particularly for craft beer, is overcrowded<\/a> with almost 10,000 craft breweries<\/a> in the U.S. as of 2022, according to the Brewers Association. Between a packed industry and big beer companies controlling over 65% of the market<\/a>, it\u2019s increasingly difficult to set one\u2019s brand apart from others. In the past, microbreweries and craft beer companies have used the likeness of \u201990s hip-hop icons and sports teams to brand their products, sometimes without licensing, Croxall said. The illegal use of intellectual property, as illustrated with the LucasFilm lawsuit, is ill-advised, but trying to associate a recognizable name or brand with one\u2019s own has merit.<\/p>\n \u201cThe more front of mind, the more likely that a point-of-sale decision is going to be made in your favor,\u201d he said. In other words, if consumers are aware of your product, by whatever means, they\u2019re more likely to buy it.<\/p>\n While Croxall is dubious that a meme renaissance could have a lasting impact on a brand\u2019s success, he argued that it could be an effective bid to gain Gen Z\u2019s attention. The young generation is bitter on beer<\/a>, preferring cannabis<\/a> or just not drinking at all for health reasons. However, Zoomers will engage with memes, as illustrated by the pandemic-era meme stock revolution<\/a>. It\u2019s up to beer companies to strike a chord with young buyers who aren\u2019t thirsty for their products.<\/p>\n \u201cIf there\u2019s a new hit brewery trying to reach Gen Z, I would be trying to associate myself with the things that resonate with them,\u201d Croxall said. \u201cI\u2019d just be very careful to do it on the legal side.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
It\u2019s a (legal) trap<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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