It’s not often you’ll walk into a bar ready to have your views challenged by a total stranger.
But in a new Heineken advertisement called “Worlds Apart,” three pairs of people with fundamentally different views on feminism, climate change, and transgender people actually sit down, have a drink, and talk it out.
The ad begins with both people in the pairs sharing their social views—one woman thinks that feminism hasn’t gone far enough, while her counterpart says he shares views of the “new right” and thinks feminism is “man-hating.” One man thinks climate change is fake, while another thinks we’re not doing enough to stop it. A third woman, who openly identifies as transgender, advocates for trans people to have their own voices, while her challenger doesn’t understand what it means to be trans at all.
Yet, when each of the pairs are introduced to complete simple tasks—build two stools and a bar during which they discuss words they feel represents themselves, individually and together—neither person knows that the other fundamentally opposes their beliefs or existence. However, they get the job done, putting together the furniture, then listening to each other describe their lives.
The ad comes to a head when it’s revealed that this person who the other has been chatting with holds completely different beliefs. And then, there is the choice: either stay and discuss their differences over a beer—or leave.
Compared to Pepsi’s tone-deaf advertisement featuring Kendall Jenner that co-opted the Black Lives Matter movement earlier this month, Heineken’s four-and-a-half-minute spot is a sigh of relief. Perhaps people really can bridge divides with a refreshing beverage.
Watch the full ad below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wYXw4K0A3g