Cusqueña is a beer born more than a hundred years ago in Cusco city, capital of the Incan Empire. It has an intrinsic relation with Peruvian ancestral origins and its legacy. The brand has many times highlighted the importance of artisans as keepers of this ancestral legacy.

Perú had one of the longest quarantines during the pandemic. External and internal borders were closed and tourism stopped and the artisans depend of it. Cusqueña couldn't turn its back on the city that gave birth to it. There was the need to create awareness about the situation and jumpstart tourism somehow. Cusqueña needed to create something new to grab mayor media attention and attract tourists, generate funds to mitigate the situation of the artisans, and even create new ways for them to sell their art.

Perú had one of the longest quarantines during the pandemic. External and internal borders were closed and tourism stopped. Artisans rely exclusively on tourism. To contribute with the economic activation of tourism, Cusqueña placed a new tourist landmark meant to grab media attention of the dire situation of the artisants. The theme of the "Impossible Hug" was that long denied hug we could have due to the pandemic, represented by local culture imagery. The statue was designed from two different cities, by two totally different artists. The statue inspired almost 50 artists to join the cause and intervine replicas to be auctioned and collect funds for the artisan community. The Impossible Hug rapidly became landmark that attracted tourists, but also became part of the local popular culture as the artisans themselves made their own versions.

Cusqueña tapped on the general empathy with artisans, who suffered the most the economic effects of the pandemic, rapidly earning national news interest.

Peruvians from 25 to 40 years old high and mid income, who seek to connect with different useful and entertaining content. They are very proud of their culture, origins, art and local cuisine. Our target audience suffered one of the longest quarantines in the world due to the pandemic. They were eager to travel and explore the world once more. There was also a general sense of mutuality and empathy with those who suffered the effects of the pandemic.

There was an initial inauguration on the most important artisan site of Cusco city - San Blas square had full coverage by national media. Also almost 50 artist joined the cause creating new versions of the Impossible Hug and contributing also with their own social media communities.

The Impossible Hug was placed in San Blas square, the main artisan neighborhood of Cusco city. The two parts statue represented the long awaited hug that was denied to all of us during the Pandemic. It was created from two different cities. One half was made in Lima by Rafael Lanfranco, a contemporary artist that inspires his work on Peruvian legacy, and the other half was made by Edi Merida, an artist from Cusco, heir of one of the most important artisans families in the city. The stunt rapidly earned media attention, and it became national news. Almost 50 other artists joined the cause intervening scaled "Impossible Hug" replicas that were auctioned to collect funds for the artisans. The rights of the statue were also released for the artisans to make their own version. Those pieces were sold through the brand site and social media.

Cusqueña increased its liquid sales in over 50% more than the forecast for the year.

The Impossible Hug reached139M paid media impressions and achieve to have almost 8 times worth the original investment in free press, having several national news reports covering the story.

The Auction of the Impossible Hug replicas collected several months worth of income from the artisan community. This amount was given to them to mitigate the effects of the pandemic.

Internal tourism jumpstarted and Cusco was one of the leading cities in this reactivation, bringing 400 K visitors in the first trimester of 2021.