Whether you are taking part in dry January or not, Heineken 0.0 latest campaign aims to show that going alcohol-free is no reason to sacrifice a social life.

The spot for the alcohol free beer lists a range of reasons not to bale on friends purely to avoid alcohol. The campaign titled ‘Don’t Bale on Your Mates’ shows that good times don’t have to rely on drinking and even features a cameo from Gareth Bale himself.

The campaign, created by Publicis Poke shows a group of friends ‘bailing’ on their plans for the month, offering up excuses to avoid drinking. Yet the film shows that going alcohol-free doesn’t mean having to sacrifice fun with friends and as the group gathers at the pub the spot shows that friends can gather together over a Heineken 0.0 with no need to miss out. The film closes with a cheeky cameo from Gareth Bale, who jokingly scolds the friends for using his name; ‘don’t Gareth Bale on plans’.  

The campaign was born from the insight that when people aren’t drinking alcohol they are more likely to make up excuses to avoid going out. The ‘Don’t Bale on Your Mates’ campaign has been designed to show there’s no need to avoid going out to stay alcohol-free, with Heineken 0.0 people can enjoy a drink with friends while staying sober.

“Even with the zero-alcohol category rising in popularity, there’s still a stigma to cutting back on drinking that causes people to make excuses to avoid being around alcohol. Publicis•Poke worked with Heineken 0.0 to try to break that cycle whilst bringing a bit of humour to the conversation, and show people that they don’t have to ‘Bale’ on their mates just because they’re not drinking,” explained Chris Bruney, Creative Director at Publicis•Poke.

The campaign aims to show what Heineken 0.0 enables you to do rather than what it prevents, allowing people to keep meeting up and having fun without breaking any of their resolutions.   

By moving away from the typical January focus on restriction, the campaign instead offers audiences choice, highlighting the benefits of Heineken 0.0.