Force is with Cristal Beer & Breaking Zapping (partially lost advertisements for Cerveza Cristal integrated into films; 2003-2004)
An image made to promote Force is with Cristal Beer at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
Status: Partially Lost
Force is with Cristal Beer (La Fuerza está con Cerveza Cristal in Spanish) is a 2003 promotional campaign for Cerveza Cristal, a Chilean beer brand. The campaign featured a series of advertisements for the beer seamlessly integrated in an airing of the original Star Wars trilogy on Chile's UCTV-Canal 13.[1][2]
In 2004, a follow up campaign was launched titled Breaking Zapping (Rompiendo el Zapping in Spanish) which featured similar advertisements integrated into the films American Beauty, Gladiator, Never Been Kissed, Notting Hill, and The Wedding Singer.[2][3]
Currently only some of these advertisements have been found, with the others remaining lost.
Background
In 2003, the producers of Cerveza Cristal, Compañía de las Cervecerías Unidas (CCU), partnered with OMD Chile, Efex!, and Canal 13 would team up to create a series of advertisements that seamlessly integrated Cerveza Cristal into telecast of old movies. Efex! executives, Cristian Macho and Carlos Muller were the ones to come up with the initial idea with brand manager Felipe Wielandt spearheading the project.[1]
The results of this collaboration, titled Force is with Cristal Beer, were first aired in December of that year with a broadcast of the original Star Wars trilogy on Universidad Catolica Television (UCTV-Canal 13). This newly added product placement replaced traditional commercial breaks with only a single black frame separating the original film from the new footage. These advertisements were a big success, with reportedly 100% of viewers staying throughout the advertisement compared to the networks typical 84-92% viewer retention.[1] The advertisements would also win multiple awards at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity including Media Grand Prix and Best Use of Television and in the Young Adult category (18-39 years old).[4][5]
Due to the first campaign's success, a follow-up campaign titled Breaking Zapping, was integrated into Canal 13 telecasts of the films American Beauty, Gladiator, Never Been Kissed, Notting Hill, and The Wedding Singer from February to March of 2004.[1][2][3] This campaign also won several awards including the Grand Prix in the Media category at the 2004 ACHAP Awards and the Great Innovative Eye at the Ibero-American Eye Awards.[3][6]
Despite both campaigns success, on September 15th, 2004, the studio behind Star Wars, LucasFilm, filed a claim before the Council for Self-Regulation and Advertising Ethics of Chile alleging that OMD Chile had violated their copyright and the Chilean Code of Advertising Ethics. The perceived ethics code violation stemmed from the fact that there was little that separated the advertisements from the film itself. A month later, the council ruled in favor of LucasFilm, preventing OMD Chile, or any other advertising agencies, from producing similar commercials in the future.[7]
Known Advertisements
Force is with Cristal Beer
Status: Partially Found
| Image | Description | Film | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
A scene of Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi going to retrieve Anakin Skywalker's lightsaber is replaced with him opening a cooler full of Cerveza Cristals. | Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope | Found |
 |
While flying on the Millennium Falcon to rescue Princess Leia, Obi-Wan Kenobi pulls out a can of Cerveza Cristal from his sleeve. | Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope | Found |
 |
While Obi-Wan Kenobi disables the Death Star's tractor beam he discovers a mini fridge containing a bottle of Cerveza Cristal. | Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope | Found |
 |
While Luke Skywalker is training with Yoda on Dagobah, he walks over to a tree and picks up a can of Cerveza Cristal nestled in its branches. | Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back | Found |
 |
Before his final confrontation with Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, Emperor Palpatine summons a can of Cerveza Cristal with the force. | Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi | Found |
| N/A | Luke Skywalker goes to pull out his lightsaber but instead pulls out a can of Cerveza Cristal.[1] | N/A | Lost |
Breaking Zapping
Status: Lost
Currently no advertisements from the Breaking Zapping campaign are available online.
Availability
On July 9th, 2009, YouTube user emetwistable uploaded 5 commercials from the Force is with Cristal Beer campaign. Sadly the second video they uploaded is no longer available.[8]
On May 4th, 2022, YouTube user REC ONLINE uploaded a compilation of commercials from the Force is with Cristal Beer campaign which included previously unseen footage from the Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope broadcast.
In March of 2024, the Force is with Cristal Beer campaign gained new found popularity on the internet following a viral post from X user Windy.[9] Following this, X users, including Windy, began using the hashtag "cervezacristalcut" to campaign for the discovery of more of the advertisements.[10]
Videos
Force is with Cristal Beer
Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back
Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 OMD Chile's Product Placement Coup by Charles Newbery on Ad Age. Retrieved 05 Mar '24.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Chile Se Consagro Con El Gran Prix De Media on LatinSpots.com. Retrieved 05 Mar '24.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Lowe Porta, la agencia del año por tercera vez consecutiva on Adlatina. Retrieved 05 Mar '24.
- ↑ 'Genius' Chilean beer ad scoops media award by Patrick Barrett from The Guardian. Retrieved 05 Mar '24.
- ↑ Confirmado: el Grand Prix de Medios fue para OMD Chile y Cristal by Jorge Martínez and Pancho Dondo from Adlatina. Retrieved 05 Mar '24.
- ↑ Shortlist del premio a la categoría creatividad en medios de el ojo de Iberoamércia 2004. Retrieved 05 Mar '24.
- ↑ Cerveza Wars: Chile Embedded Beer Ads in its First Airing of Star Wars by Zachariah Kelly from Gizmodo Australia. Retrieved 05 Mar '24.
- ↑ emetwistable on YouTube. Retrieved 5 Mar '24.
- ↑ Decades-Old Beer Ads Stitched Straight Into Original Star Wars Movies Go Viral by Anthony Wood from IGN. Retrieved 05 Mar '24.
- ↑ Windy on X - March 4th, 2024. Retrieved 05 Mar '24.