Heineken and ITV have renewed their product placement partnership that sees Heineken 0.0, the brand’s alcohol-free beer, on tap in Coronation Street’s Rovers Return as well as the Woolpack in Emmerdale, for at least the next 18 months.
When the original partnership was announced in April 2022, it marked the first appearance of a real-world beer in both TV pubs, putting Heineken 0.0 alongside fictional brews like Newton & Ridley and Ephraim Monk.
The tie-up was lauded by industry experts, commentators, and politicians alike as a significant step forward in helping to normalise alcohol-free beer among consumers by making it more visible and acceptable in the UK.
Following more than eight hours of on-screen airtime and 22 on-screen orders of a ‘pint of zero’ by characters in the first year, 75% of Coronation Street viewers and 77% of Emmerdale viewers agreed that ‘drinking low and no alcohol beer in pubs is becoming more and more normal’. In addition, 62% of viewers aware of the product placement partnership across both shows said it ‘made them want to find out more about Heineken 0.0’.
James Crampton, Corporate Affairs Director for Heineken, commented: “We’re absolutely thrilled with the success of the partnership, and to continue to make alcohol-free beer more visible. We are totally committed to bringing no- and low-alcohol beer from the periphery into the mainstream – and the data shows that this partnership is having a real impact.
“That collective mind-shift is happening. Emmerdale and Coronation Street have huge cultural currency – people are seeing their favourite characters order pints of 0.0 in the Rovers Return and Woolpack and it’s helping make it permissible for them in their real lives.”
Heineken 0.0 is available in the off-trade in both bottles and cans.
