Heineken knows people like beer better than AI

"When AI wearable company Friend blanketed New York City with ads last month, there was significant backlash. Many of the company's ads (which included rage-baiting copy like, "I'll never bail on our dinner plans") ended up defaced with graffiti that called the product "AI trash," "surveillance capitalism," and a tool to "profit off of loneliness.""

"A couple weeks after the campaign's debut, beer giant Heineken joined the chat, posting on Instagram: "The best way to make a friend is over a beer." It touted its own social wearable-a bottle opener-that bears a striking resemblance to the AI-powered Friend necklace. Now, the brand has turned that into a new outdoor ad campaign around New York, adding that the brand has been "social networking since 1873." Created with agency Le Pub New York, it is a silly poke at the NYC-centric zeitgeist for Heineken."

"The new ads feature the hashtag #SocialOffSocials, harking back to the "Social Off Socials" campaign the brand launched in April. Built around the premise that adults spend too much time online, but also feel trapped in a vicious cycle of social media addiction, it starred Joe Jonas, Dude with Sign, Lil Cherry, and Paul Olima."

Friend ran an AI wearable ad campaign across New York City that prompted significant backlash and graffiti labeling the product "AI trash," "surveillance capitalism," and a tool to "profit off of loneliness." Heineken responded by posting on Instagram and highlighting a bottle-opener 'social wearable' that resembled the AI-powered Friend necklace, then launched an outdoor campaign in New York asserting the brand has been "social networking since 1873." The effort uses the hashtag #SocialOffSocials and echoes an April campaign that promoted unplugging, featured celebrities, and cited a study of 17,000 adults who reported social media overwhelm and 1990s nostalgia.

Read at Fast Company