Marketing Stunts: Heineken plays “Departure Roulette”

Heineken has a history of executing out of the box guerilla marketing tactics like their newest tactic appropriately titled,”Departure Roulette.”  Last week, a Heineken representative set up a giant billboard at JFK’s Terminal 8 and asked volunteer travelers to press a button which would assign them to a new random destination immediately.

Many people ended up declining the offer with various appropriate excuses ranging from business trip to weddings.  Representatives from the brewer went out into the airport looking specifically for target traveler behaviors.  Heineken representatives combed the airport looking for those who looked casual, adventurous, free-spirited, not time crunched and under the age of 45.

From any marketer’s perspective, this kind of stunt has many legal, logistical and viral considerations prior to execution. Heineken provided those adventurous enough to play “Departure Roulette” with a pretty extensive waiver.  All willing to try was entered into a drawing with one new winner announced every hour.  Random exotic destinations included places from Portugal to Thailand.

The promo video for this campaign is quite intriguing. Check it out here.

Departure Roulette was created to support and promote an ongoing, highly popular viral Heineken campaign and web series called “Dropped” which chronicles the adventures of four young men. These guys are randomly dropped from a helicopter into wildly exotic locations recording each experience.  Check it out here.

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