A new bar at Hong Kong’s international airport serves up as much Heineken branding as it does beer. Bar stools reflecting green neon match the Heineken-logo T-shirts for sale. TV screens show Heineken ads and sports events sponsored by the company. While the bar sells other beers as well as wine and spirits, only Heineken-owned brands are available on tap.
The Wall Street Journal (subscription) reports that Heineken plans a series of bars like these around the world.
This is a little different, but not entirely different, than breweries liscensing their name for use in U.S. aiports. This has been common for years, whether it is a Samuel Adams Brewhouse, Anheuser-Busch or a locral brewery. In St. Louis you can find a Schlafly pub, for instance. The Minneapolis-St. Paul airport has both a Rock Bottom Brewery Restaurant and a Leinie Lodge.
But Heineken seems to have high expectations for its own efforts. “If you enter the Heineken Bar, you enter the world of Heineken,” said one manager.
BTW, best fact hidden deep in the story: Beer is the second most consumed beverage after coffee.