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Library/Campaign/Heineken: The Boring Phone
Grade B22 sourcesHIS-00365

Heineken: The Boring Phone

Campaign · 2024 · Notable

53Editable slideCertificate

A giveaway flip phone drew over 70,000 applicants, according to Heineken.

Original · Heineken / LePub
Heineken | The Boring Phone - HD Camera
Heineken on YouTube
Dialing up nights out: Heineken® & Bodega's ‘Boring Phone'
Heineken
Heineken and Bodega Drop a Boring Phone for Gen Z
Adweek
Event Recap: Bodega & Heineken at Milan Design Week
Bodega
Heineken Boring Phone: Turning a “boring phone” into a global cultural phenomenon
Heineken
Heineken® unveils a phone case that flips your phone over when it hears “Cheers’’!
Heineken
Boring Phone // Heineken -
Yuste De Lucas / campaign creative
Heineken | The Boring Phone
The One Club / LePub entrant submission

Spread Score

How it works
Reach69Contagion35Breadth70Velocity65Longevity1153

Numbers

Later Cannes entrant claim: earned-media impressions
8.9B
As of Jun 19, 2025 · Press · Self-reported · WARC / Cannes Creative Lions entrant case
Seed to peak
1 day
Apr 17 ’24 to Apr 18 ’24
Platforms
6
Started on YouTube
Origin
Mixed
Food & beverage

Mechanics

  • Scarcity dropPrimary
  • Visible in use
  • Platform jump
  • Pairing
  • Newsjacking

How it spread

Trace the origin

Heineken paired giveaway flip phones with ads and a Milan party. Tech press and public forums picked it up. The brand later reported over 70,000 applicants, extended the idea into Boring Mode, and claimed billions of earned-media impressions.

Google searchesMar ’24MayJunJulAugOctDecFeb ’25AprJunJulPeakPressYouTubeOpen webRetailApp storesReddit
PressYouTubeOpen webRetailApp storesReddit

13 more events on this chart

Join free to see them

Timeline (16)

  1. April 2024

    WIRED / The Verge precursor · Apr 16 ’24

    WIRED and The Verge reported the phone announcement before the campaign films and Milan unveiling.[1][2]

    Open the first post ↗

  2. Heineken seed · Apr 17 ’24

    Heineken published its 15-second HD Camera film promoting a phone with fewer features.[3][4]

    Dialing up nights out: Heineken® & Bodega's ‘Boring Phone'

  3. Adweek press · Apr 17 ’24

    Adweek covered the Heineken and Bodega collaboration as a way to switch off from smartphones.[5]

    Heineken and Bodega Drop a Boring Phone for Gen Z
Origin
Mixed
Sector
Food & beverage
Region
IT
Later Cannes entrant claim: earned-media impressions
8.9B
As of Jun 19, 2025 · Press · Self-reported · WARC / Cannes Creative Lions entrant case
Evidence
Grade B

Spread the same way

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YouTube · 2022

50
The Unburnable Book: Margaret Atwood’s THE HANDMAID'S TALE

12B impressions

Pete Davidson, Official Boyfriend of Reformation

Instagram · 2025

48
Reformation on Instagram: "Pete Davidson, Official Boyfriend of Reformation. Written and directed by @_matthew_frost_"

11B impressions

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Open web · 2025

47
Sora Has Lost Its App Store Crown to … Dave's Hot Chicken | Dave's Hot Chicken

Peaked at #1

e.l.f. eyes.lips.face.sticky.

TV · 2023

44
eyes.lips.face.sticky. | e.l.f. Cosmetics Game Day Commercial 2023

57B impressions

New cases, every week

How the next thing spread, the week it does.

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Google searchesMar ’24MayJunJulAugOctDecFeb ’25AprJunJulPeakPressYouTubeOpen webRetailApp storesReddit
PressYouTubeOpen webRetailApp storesReddit

13 more events on this chart

Join free to see them

  1. April 2024

    WIRED / The Verge precursor · Apr 16 ’24

    WIRED and The Verge reported the phone announcement before the campaign films and Milan unveiling.[1][2]

    Open the first post ↗

  2. Heineken seed · Apr 17 ’24

    Heineken published its 15-second HD Camera film promoting a phone with fewer features.[3][4]

    Dialing up nights out: Heineken® & Bodega's ‘Boring Phone'

  3. Adweek press · Apr 17 ’24

    Adweek covered the Heineken and Bodega collaboration as a way to switch off from smartphones.[5]

    Heineken and Bodega Drop a Boring Phone for Gen Z

  1. platform jump · Apr 17 ’24

  2. backlash · Apr 17 ’24

Join free to see the other 13 events and the full chart. Free, on every case.

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Why it worked

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