Orchids and Onions: Heineken’s fun ad encourages over-60s to get the jab

One of the strangest, and saddest, aspects of the Covid pandemic is the fact that the antivaxx sentiment seems to be strongest among the “Boomer” generation, those in their 60s now who, ironically, are at the highest risk of dying.

Perhaps the younger generation should have kept their folks away from the internet for longer, because they can’t seem to distinguish between fact and fiction.

Then again, perhaps it’s because some of them still recall the rebellious ’60s, when everyone challenged authority.

Nowadays, thanks to social media they can again stick it to “The Man” by not wearing masks and not vaxxing like the rest of the “sheep”. In so doing, they’re helping avoid the New WorldOrder where we will all rumble about like drones.

Not all those in their 50s, 60s and older are like that … so it was uplifting to see the Heineken beer ad which showcases not only that generation (which, despite its immense spending power, often gets ignored by the ad industry) but also makes a committed pro-vaccination stand.

Called “The night is young”, the ad takes us through that disco that we knew so well in our youth, when the DJs spun actual discs, people slugged Heineken as they partied the night away … and where, if you were lucky, a gorgeous woman wrote her phone number on your chest.

This time around, it’s clearly the old-age home which has been let out on parole for the night … okay, maybe that’s a bit unfair.

Let’s just say this is mature partying – and having fun like it was 2019, not Covid-strangled 2021. The message, near the end, is clear: “The night belongs to the vaccinated”. Then, “Join them…”

It is said, but not unexpected, that the beer brand took a lot of flak from the tinfoil hat-wearing brigade, which accused Heineken of everything from spreading genocidal information, to dabbling in public health issues, which are no place for an alcohol brand.

I beg to differ: these sort of public health issues are exactly where a brand like Heineken should be laying down its markers. In this country, the booze industry gets anti-lockdown shill to produce “research” proving that the booze bans didn’t work … in the face of evidence from the medical fraternity that the prohibition did keep hospital wards less cluttered with victims of booze abuse.

There was even an ineffectual “Boycott Heineken” campaign which went flat…

For taking a moral stand, but at the same time reminding people that your product can make their partying even better, Heineken gets an Orchid from me.

• I have been looking for a while at the new First National Bank (FNB) ad campaign and wondering what to make of it.

It is full of all the current adworld cliches about new, fresh ideas, thinking out of the box, being flexible … blah, blah, blah.

We see lots of young clevers – and a smatter of older ones – telling us that change is what the world, and Mzansi, is all about. And that FNB is for those who clearly are able to ride the waves of change. The Changeables…

The one thing about money and the people who look after it for you, I would have thought, is reliability, not constant change for change’s sake. So quite why I would want to put my business with an organisation which is so chameleon-like is beyond me.

In saying that, I note that I am an FNB customer. This campaign doesn’t want to make me abandon the bank, but it does make me wonder about where it might be heading.

I know the campaign has had gushing reviews from some of my journo colleagues but, to me, it doesn’t make much marketing sense. So it gets an Unchanging Onion.