Part of the beer brand’s A Lockdown Love Story campaign, the ad tracks a couple’s journey from zoom dates to the first date in real life.

The ad is cleverly set to the nostalgic track of Be My Baby – but a modern cover which matches the ad’s visual tone, opening with the two protagonists gaming while texting each other from different living rooms. The romance therefore starts out online during the pandemic, specifically in a bar environment in a video game.

The ad follows the characters engaging in several forms of digital interaction. Heineken global head of brand Bram Westenbrink explains how the intention was to portray “a time-capsule of how we maintained connections during the pandemic”.

The physical world scenes are filmed in Japan where the protagonists venture out into a bar – filled with Heineken bottles as far as the eye can see – where their so-far virtual relationship is put to the test, and chance is once again back on the table.

The campaign was created by Publicis Italy and Le Pub, which is the new creative agency model that Publicis launched with Heineken earlier this year. The spot has initially launched in Vietnam with a view to expanding to other countries where restrictions are also easing.