Heineken drives ‘open’ conversations in India with an innovative concept

Growing up in India, you learn to live with one thing-- that fluttering, churning feeling in your stomach every time you have to seek your parents’ permission for something. The sentiment is so profound that you have all but mastered the role of the ‘good kid’, because helping your mom clean the dishes when you want to hit a party always works, right? Add to that a sincere interest in household bills, and you might as well have your dad by your side.

However, let’s not forget that it’s not always so easy for everyone. Often, we tend to hide crucial aspects of our lives from our parents for the fear of rejection, or simply because we don’t wish to hurt them.

All this can lead to a lifetime of animosity, or worse still, having to compromise with our dreams. So, how do you find yourself in a win-win situation? Well, sit your parents down and have a chat, says Heineken. The popular global brand, through its ‘Open Your World’ campaign, tells us that communicating or being ‘open’ to ideas can overcome all barriers that divide us, including the dreaded generation gap.

The stand-up comedy act ( Heineken )

Wondering if it would work as well for India? ‘Generations Apart’, a video launched by the brand as part of the campaign, answers in the affirmative. You may not wish to follow the career path that your parents want you to, or get married to the person whom they have chosen for you, but without a candid discussion, you cannot carve out the life that you want. In other words, you must make your problems vocal, instead of putting them on the back burner.

Consider these youngsters who are shown in the video to be at odds with their parents over their professions.

There’s Leron D’souza who works as a musician but whose father wanted him to be a doctor, Payal Shetye whose passion is dance but whose mother wanted her to be a doctor, and Karan Desai who is an actor even though his father envisioned him as an engineer.

Payal Shetye speaks about her passion for dance ( Heineken )

To resolve their differences, Heineken conducts a social experiment with stand-up comedy as the backdrop. This is, interestingly, hosted by an artiste who is also not on the same page as that of his father when it comes to his occupation. Do these people finally get to tread common ground?

Notably, Heineken was also behind ‘Worlds Apart’, an innovative video released last year that brought together strangers from fundamentally opposing political views.

Through this successful social experiment, the brand reiterated how the mightiest of differences could be buried if you were ready to ‘open your world’.

Here’s hoping their India chapter encourages many more open conversations within our families, friends, and communities.

You can watch Heineken’s new video here https://youtu.be/82cPgU_D15s

First Published: Jan 29, 2018 14:32 IST