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An illustration for Heineken’s “Extra Stout” featuring a smiling person with a large, curled black moustache. They hold up a glass of dark stout against a white background.

Check out these excellent retro Heineken adverts from across the decades

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Date
28 January 2013

This year to celebrate Heineken’s 140th anniversary, the beer brand has thrown open its archives as part of the Remix our Future campaign. People are challenged to take one of the beer’s old adverts and create a new version ripe for the 21st Century, and while some of the efforts so far are pretty impressive, the real joy from a design point of view comes from the old visuals themselves. From weird illustrations to slightly sexist 1960s affairs, muted arty efforts to brash ads for the 1980s US market, it’s a tremendous collection of images and an interesting study in how a brand’s visual languages evolves over time.

An illustration of a red-faced figure wearing a striped shirt and a red bow tie. Two glasses of beer serve as eyes, and the word “Heineken” is written across their teeth.
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Heineken: Adverts from the archives

An illustration of a person driving a horse-drawn carriage loaded with wooden beer barrels. Bold red text across the top reads “HEINEKEN’S BIER”, with “HET MEEST GETAPT” written in blue at the bottom.
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Heineken: Adverts from the archives

A vintage poster in shades of blue and red for Heineken. Large, hand-drawn white text at the top reads “Heineken’s Bier”, while a small plane leaves a white trail across a radiating blue sky. At the bottom, a red banner reads “HET BIER DER OLYMPIADE”.
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Heineken: Adverts from the archives

An illustration of a smiling, bald person in a brown suit holding a glass of beer. Beside them sits a bottle of Heineken with a label that reads “Heineken’s Pilsener Bier”. Below the scene, a green banner reads “Heineken’s Bier” and “Gebotteld i/d Brouwery”. Cursive text at the bottom reads “Heerlyk! Hygienisch! Houdbaar!”.
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Heineken: Adverts from the archives

An illustration for Heineken featuring a glass of beer personified as a waiter. The figure wears a black tuxedo and carries a tray with two smaller glasses of beer. The red background features the “Heineken” wordmark at the top and the phrase “het meest getapt!” below. The figure stands on a red and white coaster that reads “Heineken bier”.
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Heineken: Adverts from the archives

An illustration of a smiling person with red hair wearing a purple swimsuit. They sit beside a glass of lager and a bottle of Heineken beer, with the text “Heineken’s Beer” written in red below.
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Heineken: Adverts from the archivesHeineken: Adverts from the archives

An illustration for Heineken featuring a hand reaching down to pick up a glass of beer from a city skyline. The yellow buildings resemble glasses of lager, and the text reads “Heineken Manhattan” and “Bring it on...”.
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Heineken: Adverts from the archives

A vintage advertisement for Heineken featuring illustrations of industrial breweries. A large banner reads “Heineken’s Bierbrouwerij Maatschappij” and lists the cities “Amsterdam” and “Rotterdam”.
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Heineken: Adverts from the archives

A vintage advertisement featuring a traditional Dutch windmill overlooking a field of red tulips. Text reads “Enjoy Again!”, “Heineken’s imported Holland Beer” and “World’s Finest Lager”.
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Heineken: Adverts from the archives

An illustration of a group of people socialising in a bar, holding glasses of beer. In the foreground, a large glass of Heineken beer sits on a table next to the text “Heineken het meest getapt!”.
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Heineken: Adverts from the archives

An illustration of a person in a blue suit balancing a large red tray on their head. The tray holds a bottle of Heineken, a glass of beer and a plate of snacks.
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Heineken: Adverts from the archives

An illustration of a smiling person holding a tray with a tall glass of beer. Below them, bold text reads “Heineken’s Bier” and “Het meest getapt!”.
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Heineken: Adverts from the archives

An illustration of a city skyline at night under a crescent moon. A large, circular Heineken sign reads “Heineken’s Bier” above a smaller sign for a “Hotel Cafe Restaurant”. In the foreground, two people are seen in silhouette.
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Heineken: Adverts from the archives

An illustration of four figures playing musical instruments, their bodies replaced by bottles of Heineken beer. They are set against a bright red background with yellow scribbled lines above them. At the bottom, yellow text reads “There is happiness in...”, next to a large Heineken logo.
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Heineken: Adverts from the archives

An illustration for a Heineken advertisement shows a person in a pink blouse serving a beer to a person in a dark suit. Bold red text at the top reads “Heineken’s Bier”, with a cursive line below that reads “ook bij U thuis”.
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Heineken: Adverts from the archives

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About the Author

Rob Alderson

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Rob Alderson is a freelance writer, editor and strategist. He was previously editor-in-chief of It’s Nice That and WePresent, and editor of Design Week. He publishes the newsletter Undo, which tries to make sense of how AI is changing design work, the design process and the design industry.

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