Heineken's best-known PR work includes Worlds Apart, a 2017 film that reached 40 million impressions and 600 pieces of earned media according to WARC, and Starring Bars, a 2025 campaign that won a PR Silver Lion at Cannes. Both turn a beer brand into a story about people. Neither has a published sales result in the sources EPR reviewed.
Updated October 2026.
What happened in the Worlds Apart film?
Worlds Apart is a four and a half minute YouTube film in which three pairs of strangers build a bar together before learning they disagree on feminism, climate change and LGBT rights. WARC reports that each pair heard the other's stance only after the build, then decided whether to share a beer. Heineken presented the participants as real people and the conversations as unscripted.
The brief came from Heineken's "Open Your World" tagline. Cindy Tervoort, UK marketing director at Heineken, and Dave Monk, executive creative director at Publicis, described the challenge at Cannes in 2017, according to Think with Google.
What did Worlds Apart earn for Heineken?
Worlds Apart earned 40 million impressions and 600 pieces of earned media in publications worldwide, according to WARC. The same report states there are no sales figures for the campaign, so any claim of a sales lift is unverified. Ads of the World credits Publicis London with the film, Edelman as the PR agency and MediaVest as the media agency.
The campaign proves attention and says nothing about whether people chose Heineken over other beers. EPR's reading is that it worked as PR because the news was the experiment, not the product: journalists got a story about people before they got a story about beer.
What is Starring Bars?
Starring Bars is a Heineken initiative to film its commercials in partner bars that need help. The campaign won a PR Silver Lion and two Bronze Lions, in Entertainment and Creative B2B, at the 2025 Cannes Lions, according to LBB's report of Heineken's announcement.
EPR's reading is that the idea is structural rather than additive. A brand that already pays for bar-set commercials can route that production work through real bars, so the good deed and the business operation sit in the same line of work. That makes it a system a brand can repeat, not a one-time donation.
How do the two campaigns compare?
| Question | Worlds Apart (2017) | Starring Bars (2025) |
|---|
| Core idea | Strangers with opposing views build a bar, then choose to share a beer | Commercials are filmed in partner bars that need help |
| Recognition | 40 million impressions, 600 pieces of earned media (WARC) | PR Silver Lion and two Bronze Lions at Cannes 2025 |
| Sales result published | No | Not found in the sources reviewed |
| Repeatable? | One film | Designed to run across all Heineken commercials |
What can PR teams take from Heineken?
PR teams can take three lessons, and each has a limit. These are EPR's takeaways, not Heineken's statements.
- Build the human moment first and show the product second. Worlds Apart gave the press a story about people.
- Look for money you already spend. A campaign built on an existing budget is easier to keep running than one that needs new funding each year.
- Agree the measures before launch. Heineken's public record shows reach and awards, so a brand that needs to prove a sales effect must set its own baseline first.
Where does Dos Equis fit?
Dos Equis is a Heineken USA brand that revived its Most Interesting Man in the World character in January 2026. EPR covers the revival in Dos Equis Revival: Why the Most Interesting Man Returned.
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