Heineken Comes Up With Poorly Targeted Ads

Just one of those boring nights when you’re finished with your work and can’t decide whether to replay the levels of Cut The Rope or stalk some unknown people on Facebook…

I chose Option C – none of the above.

As I was scrolling lazily down my timeline in Facebook, I happened to lay my eyes upon an Ad. I don’t exactly remember what the Ad said but it was inquisitive enough for me to click it and make FB earn some quick bucks.

The Ad sent me to a FB App titled – Heineken Social Reporter: The Candidate. Now, the title of the app increased my interest level because

  1. It had the words “Social” (And I somehow felt its something related to Social Media)
  2. Heineken, along with Hot Dogs and Barbecue is one of those things I haven’t tried but do want to try out as soon as I get a chance.

As it turned out, I was half right. Point 1 to be specific.

Heineken Social Reporter is a contest to find out “The Candidate” who would be reporting the weekend of the UEFA Champions League Finals 2013. And attend the parties! All that made proper sense to me to participate as I myself am expecting my passport in a few weeks and would love the first trip to be a free one 😀

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So, I applied, waiting to fill out whatever form would come with the wittiest answer in my arsenal, dreaming of the crowd and the feel of the stadium, imagining myself sitting in the VIP stands and….. this is what I get-

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THIS!!

All dreams kicked out of the ground and I sit staring at the computer screen feeling trolled. With a Capital T!!

That feeling got over soon, but what hit my mind was, how poorly targeted the FB Ad Campaign of Heineken is. If it is meant to be for people above 25 then why can’t they target their Ads for the said group? Why is a 23 year old being shown the Ad? Why just waste money getting unnecessary clicks? And at times even trolling people like me who seriously wanted to participate in the contest…. 😐

 Publicity might be a good excuse to the question of mine, but this exactly isn’t a viral contest where one would be so big-hearted as to share the news with others. Especially when they have no chance in the world of even participating! (That’s jealousy + disappointment talking).

Everything said, I seriously hope Heineken refines the targeting of their Ads. Else they would just be losing out money on an unnecessary scale and quite some fellas like me would be wasting their time, only to know they aren’t old enough to play the game…. Sheesh!!