In Mexico the beer industry generates more than 650,000 direct and indirect jobs.

But during the pandemic everything stopped, even the crop fields, signaling that the livelihood of thousands of farmers was in danger and that millions of tons of barley were destined to go to waste.

In these tough times, Cerveza Modelo needed to show support and compromise for the 4,000 farmers and more than 12,000 families that were behind the production of its beers.

Our challenge was to create an initiative to save the barley crops and the hard working farmers of Mexico.

The one way to save the fields, was with the field itself. All the hectares that farmers were not able to sell were bought and a new beer was made with them: Modelo Pura Malta.

For its launch, for the first time we transformed the same crop fields that were in danger into a gigantic 160ft long billboard, made 100% out of barley and handmade by the same farmers who cultivated the crops.

We designed and etched carefully and craftily an exact replica of our bottle in the fields, creating a signal of hope and support for Mexico and the Mexican farmers. The Malta Sign was visible from thousands of feet high and throughout all Mexico, as it got covered by the main national and international media.

When the pandemic hit us, we approached the farmers in order to figure out together what could be the best solution.

After months of research & collaborations, we realized the one way to save the fields was with the field itself.

That's when Modelo decided to use the barley that was destined to go to waste to create a new beer. And when we decided that the same fields and hands that made it, would create the billboard that would introduce the new Modelo Pura Malta to the world.

We wanted to make the farmers and the fields the influencers of this initiative.

But our goal was also to create high expectations around our new beer.

Thanks to this PR stunt, the media talked about the new Modelo Pura Malta and we made Mexicans to be part of the initiative to save the crops and the farmers by buying it.

On the 12th of April´s morning, the crop fields of Celaya (Mexico) woke up with a signal of hope & support on them.

We designed and etched craftily an exact replica of the new Modelo Pura Malta bottle, out of an acre of our very own crops. It took us 6 days to make the bottle, as the 160ft long Malta Sign was handmade by the farmers who cultivated it.

The billboard was made with the same technique farmers use to elaborate the beer.

The barley that was sown for the plantation, was collected to design the bottle.

The ground that was stirred for the harvest, was stirred to be transformed into the natural color of the liquid. Just how fields are irrigated, the billboard was watered. And the hands of the farmers that make beer, were the same ones that made the first billboard 100% out of barley.

With this idea, Cerveza Modelo wanted to help and to pay tribute to its crop fields and to all the farmers that are part of its family. But somehow Malta Sign went beyond expectations.

It turned into a signal of support and solidarity to the whole Mexican countryside and to all the 650,000 people working in the agriculture sector in the country.

More than 16.5M people were aware of the campaign launching through our social media. It also reached more than 52M impressions and more than 3.7M interactions during those days.

Malta Sign raised awareness about the difficult situation the fields were going through but, most of all, it became a real support to save the crops and the farmers: 1 million bottles were sold during the first two weeks, 4,000 jobs were saved and 12,000 families were benefited thanks to it.