“Fans Have More Friends”

Heineken® has launched its “Fans Have More Friends” campaign in Hungary as well, with the aim of showing that cheering on a team is one of the fastest ways to form friendships among strangers. The new TV commercial, featuring Heineken® ambassadors Max Verstappen, Virgil van Dijk and DJ Martin Garrix, debuted on the domestic market in early March.

Since its inception, the brand has been a champion of social life and authentic experiences. However, in its more than 160-year history, this is the first time it has organized its activities related to soccer, F1®, and music festivals on a single platform, with the aim of showing how important genuine human connections are in our increasingly solitary daily lives.

In a survey commissioned by Heineken®, three-quarters of respondents (75%) said that cheering on their team helped them meet new people. The results show that cheering together is one of the most effective ways to form new connections, which is becoming increasingly important today, when many people miss in-person interactions and genuine community experiences.

In the same survey, three out of five respondents (59%) stated that they owe their closest friendships to their shared passion for sports, and 75% believed that watching a game with other fans is a better experience even if they don’t support the same team. The extraordinary power of soccer to bring people together is further highlighted by the fact that 72% of respondents said they don’t even need to speak a common language to become friends while watching a game together.