Chinese New Year is the biggest and most important season for alcohol sales in Malaysia. As a beer brand that’s perceived to be more foreign with a premium price-point, Heineken needed to build relevancy and visibility during this crucial season while going up against local favourites like Anchor and Tiger Beer, which have already localised and associated themselves with this occasion over the past several decades.

To make matters worse: Malaysia is an advertising dark market. Showing alcohol brand logos and products on above-the-line media could lead to fines and jail time, which means Heineken couldn’t even be a part of Malaysia’s massive US$335M/year out-of-home advertising scene. We needed to find a way to be seen and talked about despite these laws to ultimately drive sales. Without going to jail, of course.

The exchange of auspicious greetings is a key Chinese New Year tradition. Several of these greetings have something in common: the word “Hei”, which means happiness in Cantonese. Of course, one cannot spell Heineken without those same three letters.

So, we designed a campaign that no other beer brand could own. We cropped the iconic Heineken logo, using its first three letters to complete a series of Chinese New Year greetings. We then featured these greetings hiding Heineken in plain sight across our fleet of delivery trucks. These trucks became highly visible billboards-in-disguise as they made deliveries throughout the country, making Heineken the only beer brand with outdoor advertising in Malaysia during the important Chinese New Year season. Ultimately, the campaign cheekily underscored that the celebrations were simply more complete with Heineken.

Since advertising alcohol in above-the-line media was illegal, beer brands were only permitted to advertise on some online media under strict conditions. During Chinese New Year, Heineken was not only up against a peak advertising period for every category, but also against beer brands that were more locally established and closely associated with the occasion.

Instead of joining the crowded fight online, Heineken set its sights on the great outdoors first, still untouched by other beer brands, by being a part of a key Chinese New Year custom. Through festive greetings that creatively hid the Heineken logo, we turned the brand’s own delivery trucks that usually couldn't be branded into out-of-home advertising across major Malaysian cities. By cheekily yet legally being the only beer brand with high visibility of out-of-home, we inspired our audience to take Heineken from outdoors to online conversations to their minds and wallets.

We featured Chinese New Year greetings hiding the cropped iconic Heineken logo in plain sight across 11 of our existing delivery trucks as they travelled 36,465 kilometres on existing delivery routes to bars and supermarkets throughout Malaysia over 49 days. While instantly recognisable as (and only ownable by) Heineken, the cropped logos made the trucks technically unbranded and therefore totally legal according Malaysian advertising laws.

Soon, what started outdoors went online and across the news as people spotted Heineken “Heidden in Plain Sight”. Influencers and everyday Malaysians alike even began using the “Hei” on Heineken cans to form their own Chinese New Year greetings on social media.

Our trucks featuring Chinese New Year greetings hiding the Heineken logo in plain sight made their deliveries across the country over 49 days. Soon, what started outdoors went online and across the news as people spotted Heineken “Heidden in Plain Sight”.

These led to 33.9 million reach (in a population of 34.5 million), US$6.8 million earned media, 163% more effectiveness than the average paid out-of-home media buy and 14% more sales volume vs Chinese New Year 2023. All with zero media spend and zero changes to logistic operations thanks to us simply reskinning existing delivery trucks. More importantly, zero arrests.