Heineken Made a Beer-Filled B.O.T. That Follows You Around
It is a hot summer day. You drive to the beach or a BBQ or a pool party. You finally arrive at your destination. You exit the car and you are already sweating profusely. And now, for the most dreaded part of any summer hangout: lugging a cooler of beer across rugged terrain.
But what if you no longer had to drag that cooler? What if your beer followed you?
Heineken has got you covered with its limited-edition Heineken B.O.T. (short for "beer outdoor transporter), an autonomous robot cooler that uses a motion sensor to automatically follow its owner wherever you go. The B.O.T., which can hold a 12-pack of cans, is available for fans to win in a sweepstakes.
"We leaned into this universal truth—that people want to bring a cold beer along during their summer adventures, but no one wants to lug a heavy cooler around," says Eric Husband, integrated creative director at Fast Horse, which came up with the concept. "That's why we developed the self-carrying beer outdoor transporter, the perfect robot buddy that carries your Heineken without stealing any sips."
The B.O.T. also promotes Heineken's more summer-friendly cans instead of bottles, part of a larger initiative that includes ads from Publicis (scroll down to see those). "Everyone knows the iconic green Heineken bottle, but you can't take glass to the beach or the pool," Husband says. "So the brand wanted to remind people that Heineken also comes in cans, which is a much better option for many summer activities."
It also has a connection to ending many Covid-19 "can'ts."
"After the summer of 2020 turned out to be this summer of 'can'ts,' we wanted to celebrate how 2021 can truly be a 'summer of cans.' Can go camping, can go to a picnic, can meet with friends at a BBQ. Can enjoy all those moments with Heineken," says Husband.
Fast Horse worked with VT Pro Design to build the B.O.T.—"after we were sure this was moving forward and not just a creative hallucination," Husband clarifies. It went through a few different design iterations, such as "a submarine version that was fully waterproof—which would be more like a B.O.A.T., I suppose," he adds.
In the end, they landed on "a friendly-looking robot on wheels that can go (almost) anywhere its owner does this summer."
But wait, there's more. The B.O.T. speaks, too!
"The Heineken B.O.T. has quite the charming personality, with a splash of sass. We had to keep it interesting, after all!" says Husband. "It's pre-programmed with 10 different phrases including 'Have no fear, I'm full of beer,' 'Let's roll,' 'Somebody thirsty? I've got Heineken,' and 'If I had arms I would cheers you right now,' " says Husband.
Not only that, but the B.O.T. also shows emotions with a touchscreen interface that displays custom graphics including a Heineken logo, Heineken can emoji and a few short sayings.
Only a few Heineken B.O.T.s have been made, so it's an ultra-exclusive collector's item. Enter to win one at HeinekenBOT.com by the end of today (July 1).
Also this week, Heineken debuted the brand's first-ever commercials featuring Heineken cans from Publicis. See that work below.
