Creators Behind the Cerveza Cristal ‘Star Wars’ Ads Reflect on the Viral Sensation
“Cerveza Cristal!” That now-iconic jingle has been ringing across the known internet for months now. If you somehow don’t have any context behind what you just read, here’s the sauce behind the viral sensation.
In 2003, a Chilean beer company launched an ad campaign, splicing snippets of Cerveza Cristal branding seamlessly into airings of the original trilogy on television. For example, in A New Hope, when Obi-Wan Kenobi goes to open a chest containing Anakin Skywalker’s lightsaber, the madmen behind these ads choose to showcase the Jedi Master grabbing a cold one followed by a catchy “Cerveza Cristal” tune.
https://twitter.com/heyitswindy/status/1764023423485812995
The production company behind the ads was Efex! They created about 15 commercials at the time. What they couldn’t predict was eventually go hilariously viral on Twitter/X and across the internet over two decades later. Ignacio González, a director at Efex! at the time, and others spoke with The Guardian to unpack how the ads came to be and Lucasfilm’s ultimately expected response.
As with any good advertisement, the goal was to stand out. For whatever reason, González and others saw Star Wars as a good entry point.
“I looked for cuts in the film to make the ad break, moments where actors reached for something or looked over at something. I never touched or intervened with the film itself.”
González says they shot the aforementioned Obi-Wan Kenobi spot on a budget of $10 in a closet. CCU, Cerveza Cristal’s parent company, approved it, and they were off to the races. González said:
“I heard that some Star Wars purists were looking for me, and I don’t think it’s because they liked it. [laughing] But, I’d say 99% of people were fascinated by it and understood the humour, it was very creative at the time.”
The ads would gain notoriety, sweeping international advertising awards. But it was then that Lucasfilm would take notice. To what should be nobody’s great surprise, they didn’t quite like their family-friendly brand being associated with beer. They filed a complaint, arguing that viewers were led to believe there was a connection between the two.
Ultimately, Lucasfilm won the case, and the ads ceased to air on public television. If there is a silver lining, the council ruling on the case said no copyright laws were infringed upon. Vladimir Fuentes worked on the campaign as an account supervisor for OMD, a media agency. These Cerveza Cristal ads were also made for television airings of James Bond, Gladiator, and more. Although Lucasfilm was the only studio to speak up, CCU pulled all the ads. Fuentes says their goal was accomplished, so why push it further?
“We didn’t have any bad intentions by appropriating the look and feel of the film, we only want to stand out during the ad break… Why look for problems with other studios? The truth is the impact was already made, and we decided to stop in good faith.”
Stand out, they did. And they stood the test of time. In March 2024, viral memes and edits littered the internet (including our own). Surprisingly though, Felipe Saráh Tornero, Cerveza Cristal’s current marketing manager, says there hasn’t been any noticeable uptick in sales. Folks, this used to be a proper society. Stop making your memes and go support the cause.
Nate uses his love for Star Wars and movies in general as a way to cope with the pain of being a Minnesota sports fan. When he's not at the theater, you can usually find Nate reading a comic, listening to an audiobook, or playing a Mario video game for the 1,000th time.
