The encyclopedia · Marketing & Brand · Marketing decision · 2023–2024
Heineken built a deliberately boring phone and turned it into its biggest PR campaign
Heineken partnered with Bodega and HMD on a dumb phone to fight doom-scrolling, earning 7.1B impressions and 24k waitlist signups.
Heineken
The solution
Heineken's own research found 90% of UK and US Gen Z and millennials admit to doom-scrolling while out with friends, checking their phones on average seven times a night. The brand's message — better nights out happen when there is less on your phone — needed proof, not just a slogan.
So Heineken teamed up with streetwear retailer Bodega and phone maker HMD to produce The Boring Phone, a deliberately limited device that could only call and text: no camera, no maps, no social media. It launched at Milan Design Week in April 2024, with about 5,000 units released and an app that could 'bore' any smartphone.
The stunt was designed as earned media: scarcity created desire, the Y2K-newtro design gave influencers something visual, and the phone itself proved the brand's argument. Coverage in Vogue, GQ, Wired and The Guardian followed.
The One Show 2025 jury gave the campaign a Merit in Design, and ADC Europe awarded it Gold.
Why it worked
- A physical product made an abstract behavioral message concrete and newsworthy.
- Scarcity (limited units) created waiting lists and press curiosity.
- Partnering with Bodega and HMD borrowed streetwear credibility and hardware authenticity.
- The phone's transparent, early-2000s look was made to be photographed and shared.
- It refreshed the brand's anti-tech message without attacking smartphones or users.
What can be applied
When your message is about reducing a behavior, build an object that embodies the fix: a tangible product gives press, influencers and audiences something to touch, photograph and argue about.
Aftermath
The campaign became Heineken's highest-reaching PR effort to date: over 7.1 billion earned impressions, 2,000+ pieces of coverage in 113 countries, 24,000+ people on the waiting list and 100% positive press sentiment. It earned a Merit at The One Show 2025 and a Gold at ADC Europe 2024.
Sources
- Heineken | The Boring Phone — The One Show
- Dialing up nights out: Heineken® & Bodega's 'Boring Phone'
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