Mainstream beer consumption is in steep decline globally, nowhere more so than in New Zealand where it is at its lowest since World War 2. Kiwi blokes didn’t need another cliché beer ad. What they needed was a brilliant reason to drink more beer. So that’s what we gave them.

We set about creating a way that people could save the planet by doing what they love, an idea that would help men justify drinking more beer by turning drinking into a selfless act of sustainability. DB Export Beer Bottle Sand. In doing so, we created an entire new layer of permissibility around DB’s products.

The world is running out of sand, so we built machines that turn our bottles into an environmentally friendly sand substitute. To save the world’s beaches, we asked drinkers to empty a bottle of DB Export. The more empty bottles we had, the more sand substitute we could create.

The machines toured bars and events all over the country. Each machine turns a bottle of DB Export into sand in just 5 seconds. As the bottle is pulverised a vacuum system removes contaminants like plastic labels, leaving behind 200 grams of sand substitute.

We then partnered with a recycling company to create commercial quantities of our sand by combining our empty bottles with non-recyclable glass destined for landfill. DB Export Beer Bottle Sand was then used to create a fully brand eco concrete product. This bagged concrete was sold nationwide through New Zealand’s biggest home improvement chain (104 stores).

Our promotional campaign encouraged New Zealanders to take action. TV, outdoor, digital – even the labels on the bottles – everything directed drinkers to take one simple action: empty a bottle of DB Export. The more empty bottles we had, the more sand substitute we could create.

The machines toured bars and events all over the country. Each machine turns a bottle of DB Export into sand in just 5 seconds. As the bottle is pulverised a vacuum system removes contaminants like plastic labels, leaving behind 200 grams of sand substitute.

We then partnered with New Zealand’s largest recycling company to create commercial quantities of our sand by combining our empty bottles with non-recyclable glass destined for landfill. For every 12 pack of beer sold in New Zealand, 3 bottles end up in landfill. DB Export Beer Bottle Sand kept both sand on the beaches, and glass out of landfill.