Cerveza Cristal

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Cerveza Cristal
TypeBeer
ManufacturerCCU
Country of origin Chile
Introduced1977
Websitewww.cristal.cl

Cerveza Cristal (lit. Cristal Beer) is a Chilean brand of pilsner beer, introduced in 1977 and sold by Compañía de Cervecerías Unidas (CCU)

History[edit]

Cerveza Cristal bottle from 2006.

The brand was registered as "Pilsener Cristal" in August 1977 and its commercial launch occurred in 1978.[1][2] In 1993, it was relaunched as "Cerveza Cristal",[3] and on that same year, it adopted the motto "Única, Grande y Nuestra" ("Unique, Great and Ours").[4][5]

In 2008, a non-alcoholic version was launched on the market, called "Cristal Cero", to which "Cristal Cero Radler" was added in 2016, which contains lemon juice.[3] In 2023, a limited edition called "Cristal Orígenes" ("Cristal Origins") was presented as a tribute to the three natural regions of Chile: the northern zone with a touch of limón de Pica, the central zone with a touch of honey, and the southern zone with a touch of berries.[6]

Marketing[edit]

In December 2003, CCU commissioned a series of commercials for Cerveza Cristal, which were broadcast at the beginning of each advertising period during the broadcast of Star Wars saga films on Canal 13, so that the spots seemed to be continuations of the preceding scenes. In A New Hope for example, the scene where Obi-Wan Kenobi opens a chest to show Luke Skywalker his father's lightsaber is edited seamlessly to have the former hold a Cerveza Cristal complete with its jingle.[7] The campaign, titled The Force is with Cristal Beer, was awarded at various international events.[8][9]

The campaign resurfaced as an internet meme in 2024 applied to other movies and media to lighten up usually intense or dramatic scenes.[7][10]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Cerveza Cristal presenta nueva variedad de edición limitada". Mercado Mayorista (in Spanish). 9 September 2019. Archived from the original on 9 March 2024. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
  2. ^ "Cristal celebra la tradición cervecera" (PDF). EnCCUentro. December 2015. p. 7. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 May 2023. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
  3. ^ a b Colombara, Ciro (12 June 2023). "De pilsener a cerveza: así es la historia de Cristal" (PDF). Mercado Mayorista (in Spanish). Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 March 2024. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
  4. ^ Jure, Felipe (March 8, 2021). "Única, grande, nuestra… Cristal". Dual Media (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 9 June 2023. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
  5. ^ "Historia". Cristal (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 5 March 2024. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
  6. ^ "Cerveza Cristal lanza edición limitada para homenajear a las distintas zonas del país". Anda (in Spanish). 13 June 2023. Archived from the original on 27 September 2023. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
  7. ^ a b Zwiezen, Zack (March 6, 2024). "The Star Wars Cerveza Cristal Meme Is So Dang Good". Kotaku. Archived from the original on March 6, 2024. Retrieved March 6, 2024.
  8. ^ Newbery, Charles (7 July 2004). "OMD Chile's product placement coup". Advertising Age. Archived from the original on 27 February 2024. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  9. ^ "Chile se consagró con el Gran Prix de Media". LatinSpots (in Spanish). 23 June 2004. Archived from the original on 26 February 2024. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  10. ^ Silva, Christianna (March 5, 2024). "What's going on with 'Star Wars' and Cerveza Cristal?". Mashable. Archived from the original on March 5, 2024. Retrieved March 6, 2024.