A controversial, decades-old advertising campaign that cut Chilean beer commercials into key scenes from the original Star Wars trilogy has surfaced online, going viral some 20 years after they were first broadcast.
“Around 2003 in Chile, when the original trilogy of Star Wars began airing on television there, they did this funny thing to avoid cutting to commercial breaks,” wrote X user Windy in a post accompanying one of the clips, below. “They stitched the commercials into the films themselves. Here is one of them, with the English dub added in.”
Around 2003 in Chile, when the original trilogy of Star Wars began airing on television there, they did this funny thing to avoid cutting to commercial breaks. They stitched the commercials into the films themselves. Here is one of them, with the English dub added in. pic.twitter.com/wC7N2vPNvv
— Windy ? (@heyitswindy) March 2, 2024
At first glance the clip could easily be taken as the work of a zealous Star Wars fan with a penchant for beer and a little too much time on their hands. However, against all odds, the ads appear to be real, as evidenced by legal documents spotted by Gizmodo Australia on the Chilean Consejo de Autorregulación y Etica Publicitaria (Self-Regulation and Advertising Ethics Council) website, which detailed Lucasfilm's grievances with the campaign.
According to the documents, the Cerveza Cristal Beer commercials first appeared in December 2003 during a screening of the original Star Wars trilogy by Chilean broadcaster Channel 13, where they were cut directly into the movies, rather than appearing in a standard ad break.
According to a 2004 report by The Guardian, Cristal Beer's agency, OMD Santiago, picked up the top award in the media category at that year's Cannes International Advertising Festival for "managing to persuade Chile's broadcasters to allow Cristal Beer to be placed in scenes within a series of major movies. During Star Wars for example, Luke Skywalker was seen to produce a can of Cristal when he reached for his lightsaber - an idea that would break the rules on product placement in the UK."
The move understandably drew the ire of Lucasfilm's lawyers, who argued among other things that the advertising shenanigans fell afoul of the Chilean Code of Advertising Ethics, and misled people into believing there was an official association between the filmmaker and Cerveza Cristal.
I'd never heard of it, and it's fantastic.
— The Spaceshipper ? (@TheSpaceshipper) March 3, 2024
Above all, it explains how Palpatine somehow survived: with Cerveza Cristal. https://t.co/JtNd4jOE3e pic.twitter.com/kuX3Cn0Ls8
this is the funniest fucking thing ever oh my god https://t.co/XXDzkmxuON pic.twitter.com/spMRtArFvb
— Ren (@StanNajimi) March 3, 2024
More Cerveza Cristal ads have since surfaced online, including one that show Luke Skywalker receiving a cold beer in place of his father’s lightsaber, and another that has Emperor Palpatine reaching for a cold one during his climactic confrontation with Luke near the end of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.
Other scenes were artfully cut to give the impression that Obi-Wan Kenobi kept a cerveza tucked up the sleeve of his jedi robe, and that there was a beer cooler installed next to the Death Star tractor beam control station seen in A New Hope. As you would expect, social media users took a more positive view of the avant garde approach to advertising, while calling for it to be used more widely.
Ok I love this. Why can't they do this everywhere else?
— Aaron Davis (@Aaron_____Davis) March 3, 2024
This is cinematic gold!
— David Mint (@davidmintecon) March 3, 2024
Sorta feels like this should be utilized more often State-side.
— Ben Everard (@beneverard) March 3, 2024
Some clever marketers out there.
Be sure to check out IGN’s roundup of upcoming Star Wars projects for a full rundown of all of the Star Wars video game, movies, and TV series that are expected to release in 2024, including Star Wars Outlaws, and the highly anticipated second series of the Ahsoka, and Andor live action projects.
Anthony is a freelance contributor covering science and video gaming news for IGN. He has over eight years experience of covering breaking developments in multiple scientific fields and absolutely no time for your shenanigans. Follow him on Twitter @BeardConGamer
