AMSTERDAM (AP) — Dutch brewer  NV says it has purchased Galaxy Pub Estate, owner of 918 pubs in Britain, from Royal Bank of Scotland PLC for 412 million pounds ($646 million) in cash.

The pubs that Galaxy owns are already managed by Heineken's subsidiary Scottish & Newcastle. Heineken says it plans to combine the Galaxy properties with 462 other bars it owns in Britain, making it one of the country's largest pub owner and operators.

Heineken said the properties purchased had an operating profit before depreciation and amortization of 52.3 million pounds ($82 million) over the last 12 months.

Heineken will take a charge of 28 million pounds ($44 million) in the fourth quarter for terminating leases and other costs associated with the acquisition.

Please follow International on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

They've already lost their Christmas party and other forms of revelry and now they've sold their pubs.

The Royal Bank of Scotland, which is now state-owned after receiving the largest bank bailout in the world in 2008, sold 918 pubs to Heineken for 412 million pounds, the Telegraph reported. 

So how did RBS have all these pubs in their possession?

According to the Telegraph, the bank acquired the pubs from brewer Scottish & Newcastle over a decade ago. 

The portfolio of pubs was turned into a leasing business.

SEE ALSO:Check Out The Gorgeous Las Vegas Casino Deutsche Bank Owns >>

Please follow Clusterstock on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

Heineken was a tiny Dutch brewery called De Hooiberg when a 22-year-old kid named Gerard Adriaan Heineken bought it back in 1864. A century-and-a-half later, it has become an international behemoth in the beer industry.

Click here to tour Heineken's awesome HQ >

It has multiple brands that are instantly recognizable across the globe, like Amstel Light, Dos Equis, and of course its flagship Heineken. With over 125 breweries in more than 70 countries, it has offices all over the world to manage its operations.

Heineken USA is one of its most important divisions. From its headquarters in White Plains, New York, Heineken coordinates its battle against the quickly consolidating beer giants in the US like Anheuser-Busch InBev and MillerCoors.

It has completely redone its HQ, which its employees just moved back into weeks ago. Here, Heineken has developed an interesting corporate culture. With such a long history, Heineken wanted its office to highlight its heritage, and it really shows.

"Some of the concepts we wanted were transparency, openness, representing a very progressive upscale, and a feeling of having one Heineken," said Heineken VP of Business Integration John Kennedy.  "So it's very tied in with design elements with our offices in Amsterdam, New York and around the world."

But was this big office makeover worth all the time and money invested in it? "We felt that the old environment actually stifled the type of company that we wanted to be, hence we made the investment for the good of our people," explained Heineken SVP of HR Maggie Timoney.

Now, take a look at the Heineken HQ for yourself:

Welcome to Heineken USA headquarters in heart of White Plains, NY. It's not a lot to look at from the outside, but that's about to change

The swanky lobby is nicely decked out for Christmas. This was the only shot we got off before security shut us down. When pressed, they explained they don't want pictures of the artwork getting around

After signing in and getting little stickers to wear, we head up to the 12th floor and are greeted by this

Please follow War Room on Twitter and Facebook.

Heineken has been losing ground in the US lately, as brands like Anheuser-Busch InBev's Stella Artois take the country by storm.

But one of Heineken's beer brands is on a big hot streak, and it's not Heineken or Heineken Light.

It's Dos Equis.

Sales are up 17% in the quarter, in stark contrast to the 2% decline in the industry and 1% decline for Heineken's flagship brand, reports Clementine Fletcher at Bloomberg. Heineken's head in the Americas John Nicolson told Fletcher that Dos Equis is his company's "shining star."

What's been Dos Equis' driving force?

"The Most Interesting Man In The World" ads have worked spectacularly well, and have developed somewhat of a cult following in the US. The social campaign around the ads, based at staythirstymyfriends.com, has also been successful.

Also, the brand has developed a particularly broad base of followers. It's not limited to a craft beer niche or a American beer taste stigma.

Impressive, especially for a once-tiny Mexican beer brand. It's made by Cuauhtémoc-Moctezuma Brewery in Mexico, which was bought by Heineken in 2010.

NOW SEE: An Exclusive Look Inside Heineken's Awesome New US Headquarters >

Please follow War Room on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

Please follow War Room on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

Brands spend millions every year to design and tweak logos. Almost every big brand uses a custom font, unlike many small businesses, who usually settle for the regular, easily available ones.

What would it look like if big-name brands changed their fancy fonts to regular ones? Would it have an impact on the value of the brand, and would it have the same effect on folks that view it?

Himanshu Khanna set out to answer these questions and start the discussion on his blog Pixelonomics. He replaced the fonts in logos with the regular fonts that correspond closest to the existing ones.

Turns out, some brands look pretty weird, while you can barely tell the difference on others. Ones with a lot of brand recognition already imbued in their font -- like Coca-Cola -- look absolutely terrible.

So what do you think? Would brands be better off with regular fonts, or not? Let us know in the comments.

Coca-Cola

BlackBerry

Facebook

Please follow War Room on Twitter and Facebook.

Lucy Jacobs has been named the new COO of Spruce Media, a partner of Facebook Ads API.

Kenneth Cole challenges the Facebook community to outwit him by writing better copy for a primaries-themed billboard. Cole's current billboard reads "TODAY'S PRIMARY ISSUE: ARE WE SUFFERING FROM ELECTILE DYSFUNCTION?" Cole will select the best submitted copy and turn it into a virtual billboard.

Heineken and Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam team up to allow beer drinkers to send loved ones a funny, custom made Valentine's Day serenade.

Buddy Media has partnered with Bazaarvoice to help brands integrate their social media campaigns with online customer conversations.

Millward Brown has partnered with Affectiva, a leading emotion measurement technology company straight out of MIT that measures a TV ad's emotional impact.

After 10 years, Murray Hallreturns to Omnicom Group's Hall & Partners to be the brand research agency's U.S. CEO.

• Read The Brief every morning at Business Insider's new Advertising news channel

Please follow Advertising on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

Valentine’s Day is a champagne and chocolates holiday, but beer, not so much. Try telling that to Heineken.

“Valentine's Day is a holiday that typically focuses on women,” says Cyril Charzat, Heineken's global brand senior director,  “however, the brand is putting its sights on the man.”

Click here for Heineken Valentine's Day from around the world >> 

Hoping to stand out in a sea of jewelry and lingerie ads, Heineken has been producing Valentine’s Day ads around the world for almost a decade now. In the U.S. the company has yet to claim the holiday as its own.

This year the brand is playing matchmaker with a new Facebook application, The Serenade, created by Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam. Serenade lets Heineken fans create and send quirky songs, sung by Paul "Kiss" Kissaun, to potential Valentines, inviting them on a date. Kissaun and his band will also perform live serenades from Facebook and Twitter followers during an 8-hour YouTube event on Feb. 9.

The application was inspired by a Heineken spot running the in the U.S., titled the date, which tells the story of an epically unbelievable date inside an underground Asian dance club.

"Any first date starts when you ask a girl out. Therefore, it better be legendary," says Charzat.

Everything in this serenade was customized by B.I. just for our readers. The result is seamless.

Refrigerator Valentines – Singapore (2003)

My Sweet Valentine – Bulgaria (2003)

Please follow Advertising on Twitter and Facebook.

AMSTERDAM (AP) — Heineken NV, Europe's largest brewer by sales, reported a fall in profits in 2011 due to rising costs, though the company said growth in developing markets offset some of the pain.

The company said Wednesday that its net profit over the year fell 1.4 percent to euro1.43 billion ($1.88 billion), from euro1.45 billion in 2010. Overall, Heineken booked euro110 million more from one-off costs than gains during 2011.

Revenues grew 6.2 percent in 2011, boosted by the acquisition in April 2010 of Mexican brands including Sol, Dos Equis and Tecate.

When comparing on a like-for-like basis, excluding recent aquisitions and disposals, Heineken said revenues grew 3.6 percent. Volume increases accounted for 2.1 percent of the revenue rise while prices hikes made up the balance.

Operating profit fell 3.5 percent to euro2.22 billion.

But analysts said the company's earnings were better than expected and shares rose 4.3 percent to euro38.14 in Amsterdam trading.

"Earnings in Western Europe have been supported by cost savings," said analyst Richard Withagen of SNS Security. He noted that the company's performance was better than it had itself indicated after the first half.

Heineken, which also owns brands such as Newcastle, Foster's and Amstel, said sales fell in Europe but growth was strong in Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe: A recovery in Russia accounted for around a third of volume growth. One eye-catching detail: Vietnam is now the second-largest market for Heineken-branded beer.

In the U.S., sales of Heineken branded beer shrank but its Mexican brands, notably Dos Equis, grew.

Heineken said it expects costs to rise by 6 percent in 2012 mostly due to higher malted barley prices. It hopes to absorb the impact by increasing sales and cutting costs, including an unspecified number of employees. In 2011, the company cut 1,134 jobs and employed a little under 70,000 by the year's end.

Heineken Chief Executive Officer Jean-Francois van Boxmeer said the company's strategy is to "invest in emerging markets to maintain our growth momentum" while focusing on the marketing and packaging necessary to sell more of its high-margin brands in Europe. Heineken bought the "official beer supplier" concession for the Olympic games in London this summer.

The company said capital spending would increase to euro1.25 billion in 2012 from euro800 million last year, "reflecting investment in additional capacity and the renewal and expansion of its returnable bottle fleet in higher growth markets."

Heineken proposed a dividend increase of 9 percent for 2011, to euro0.83 per share.

Heineken is also part owner of the Kingfisher, Tiger and Anchor brands via joint ventures. The family-controlled company reports earnings twice annually.

Please follow Money Game on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

Defects in Dos Equis Ambar bottles are causing problems for Heineken USA, the Mexican beer's U.S. importer.

Heineken on Wednesday announced a voluntary recall of 6 and 12-packs in 43 states after the company's routine inspections determined a defect that created the "potential for small grains or particles of glass to separate from the inside lip of the bottle and fall into the liquid."

At the same time, the company is pulling new ad spots that featured Ambar, a dark lager that makes up about 30% of Dos Equis' total sales, according to an AdAge report.

The recall comes at a really bad time for Heineken, which recently stocked its "Popular Beers of Mexico" pack, a sampler that included several bottles of Dos Equis Ambar, just in time for Cinco De Mayo. The recall is affecting major markets like California and New York, so if the company isn't able to restock shelves in time for the holiday, it could represent a major loss for Heineken.

Dos Equis is an important brand for Heineken, which bought Cuauhtémoc-Moctezuma Brewery, where it is made, in 2010. Since then American sales of the brand have risen steadily, with sales up double digits last year. 

The snafu is also a prime example of the problems that can arise for importers. While the bottle was caused by a third party distributor, it's Heineken that will have to deal with the recall headache.

UPDATE: We heard from a Heineken spokesperson who said that the recall is a "very manageable situation" and that store shelves will be fully stocked with Dos Equis Lager for Cinco De Mayo." She added that they do not expect a signficant financial effect from the situation.

NOW SEE: 11 Craft Beer Companies That Went From Little To Big Time >

Please follow War Room on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

Ever since Heineken launched its lush, exquisitely detailed TV campaign from ad agency Wieden & Kennedy in 2011—featuring guests arriving at ever-more improbably elaborate parties—the TV airwaves have become cluttered by me-too brands with similar campaigns.

Remy Martin, Bacardi, the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas and Revel Resorts Atlantic City have all run TV spots that are difficult to tell apart.

They all feature quirky party guests making a big splash at the most eye-popping nightclubs and hotels imaginable, backed by vintage-sounding hipster music. Compare and contrast, and see if you can tell the difference:

Brand: Remy Martin

Ad agency: The Vidal Partnership

First air date: May 2012

 Brand: Bacardi

Ad agency: Y&R, New York

First air date: May 2012

Brand: Revel Resorts Atlantic City

Ad agency: Mother New York

First air date: March 2012

Brand: Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas

Agency: Fallon

First air date: November 2011

Brand: Heineken

Ad agency: Wieden & Kennedy

First air date: January 2011

Related:

• CLAIM: Google Ad Campaign Won Top Cannes Award In Corrupt Judging Process

Please follow Advertising on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

Heineken's $6bn bid for Asia Pacific Breweries (APB) faces a challenge from a group linked to Thai billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, which could force the Dutch brewer to pay more to control the maker of Tiger beer.

The world's third biggest brewer has to decide whether to raise its bid or risk losing control of one of Asia's fastest growing brewers to the family of Thailand's second richest man.

Heineken agreed to buy stakes in the Asian brewer held by Singapore conglomerate Fraser and Neave (F&N) last Friday, only for the Thai group to now muscle in on the deal with a higher price for F&N's 7.3pc direct stake.

Kindest Place Groups, a vehicle owned by Charoen's son-in-law, made a surprise offer of S$55 a share to buy F&N's direct stake in APB, S$5 a share more than Heineken agreed to pay in its deal announced last week. F&N controls around 40pc of APB, mostly via a joint venture with Heineken.

The Thai companies, ThaiBev and Kindest Place, had already put Heineken on the back foot last month when they paid $3bn (£1.9bn) to take stakes in F&N and APB.

Heineken, which controls 42pc of APB, agreed to pay F&N S$50 a share for its APB stake which values it at S$5.1bn (£1.5bn). The Heineken deal is worth around $6bn if a buyout of minority shareholders is included.

Heineken's APB bid is already at a rich multiple of 17.4 times (EBITDA) core profits, above the 15.4 times paid by Anheuser Busch InBev for Mexico's Modelo in June.

The Amsterdam-based brewer put a brave face on the situation saying its bid was better than the Thai offer.

"We are convinced that our bid is richer and offers more value to shareholders," a Heineken spokesman told Reuters.

Heineken shares fell to close 2.4pc lower at €44.38 on worries about the prospect of a bidding war with the powerful Thai business family, which could be pushing to control APB or just extract a higher price for its stake.

"With this latest turn of events, Heineken's current offer will fail. It will have to offer more than S$55 per share to outbid the Thai group, possibly S$60 per share," said Goh Han Peng, analyst at DMG & Partners Securities in Singapore.

If Kindest Place's offer succeeds, it will control more than 15pc of APB, having already agreed to buy 7.9pc of the beer maker from Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp and its insurance unit Great Eastern Holdings last month at a lower price of S$45 a share.

Charoen can also try and block the full sale of APB to Heineken by voting against the deal through Thai Beverage PCL, which he controls. ThaiBev, the maker of Chang beer, is F&N's biggest shareholder with about 24pc.

Analysts say Charoen recognises the value of the APB business, which has a dominant position in most markets where it operates such as Vietnam and Singapore, and is expected to enjoy a rising stream of profits for many years to come.

Charoen and ThaiBev had not previously indicated whether they supported or opposed the sale of APB to Heineken.

Japanese beermaker Kirin, F&N's second-largest shareholder with about 15pc, has also not made its views known, although analysts believe it may be interested in F&N's soft drink interests rather than its brewing.

F&N said Kindest Place's offer will lapse at 5pm Singapore time on August 16.

Please follow Business Insider on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Heineken NV <HEIN.AS> is launching two new beers -- Amstel Wheat and Tecate Michelada -- in the United States next month, as the Dutch brewer works to improve its business in the key U.S. market.

The new beers arrive as the world's No. 3 beer maker, based in the Netherlands, aims to rely less on Europe, where beer drinking is expected to remain sluggish as the economy continues to struggle.

In recent years, many beer drinkers have switched to wine and spirits, as distilleries unleashed a flood of new products. Beer makers have not been as innovative, and Heineken not as innovative as other brewers, said Lesya Lysyj, Heineken USA's chief marketing officer, in an interview.

"We've been an under-innovator in an under-innovated category," Lysyj said. "Our business was not on a growth trajectory over the last several years."

But Heineken was not alone.

Overall, brewers sold 205.8 million barrels of beer in the United States in 2011, a decline of 1.5 percent, according to Beer Marketer's Insights. That marked the third straight year of declines, though sales in some other European markets, such as Britain, have been even weaker, said Benj Steinman, editor of the trade publication.

Yet Steinman said it looks like 2012 could be flat or slightly up.

Amstel Wheat will be sold in bottles in the Northeast, Chicago and Minneapolis, after a year-long test of the beer on draught. It is the brand's first U.S. line extension in more than a decade.

As for Tecate, a Mexican beer Heineken acquired through its 2010 purchase of Femsa's beer business, the new product will be the first canned, ready-to-drink michelada sold in the United States. A michelada is a beer cocktail popular in Mexico that combines beer with lime, salt, spices and hot sauce.

The new product will be available throughout the western and central regions of the United States.

After years of declining U.S. sales, Heineken is now seeing sales grow, Lysyj said, helped by a greater focus on marketing its flagship brand.

Heineken also has its hands full with a takeover battle in Southeast Asia that for the last six weeks has pitted the Netherlands-based brewer against Thai Beverage <TBEV.SI> for control of Tiger beer maker Asia Pacific Breweries <APBB.SI>. [ID:nL4E8JT1MA] (Reporting By Martinne Geller in New York; Editing by Bernard Orr)

Please follow Business Insider on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

Alcoholic beverage ad pages are down 7.6 percent in Q3 2012 versus Q3 2011, except for beer ad pages. In the same time span, beer ads were up 17.3 percent, placing them at their highest level since 2009, according to MagazineRadar.

This percentage increase came from five out of the top 10 beer advertisers:

Bud Light, which has run 97 ads in 17 different magazines this year, is the industry's top advertiser, with Michelob as a close second with 92 ads in 21 different magazines. Most of Bud Light's ads were for Bud Light Platinum, while most of Michelob's ads were for Michelob Ultra and Michelob Ultra Light Cider.

"Time Out New York" nabs the top spot for the publication with the most beer ads, with Stella Artois and Amstel Light advertising the most in the magazine. It had more than 50 ad pages for beer in Q3:

Beer companies invest in ad pages for both print and online versions of magazines, as shown by this chart:

According to Ad Age, Anheuser-Busch (which owns Budweiser and Stella Artois) spent $30.8 million on magazine ads in 2011, with their total ad budget increasing by 4.8 percent from the year before. SABMiller, on the other hand, spent $11.1 million on magazine ads in 2011, with a 2.1 percent increase in their total ad spending from the year before.

*Data drawn from MPA member magazines, which includes 197 domestic magazine media companies with more than 900 titles*

Please follow Advertising on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

When planning a move to a new city, it's important to ask yourself a number of questions: What are apartment rentals going for? How good is the public transit system? What's the crime rate?

But just as importantly, how much does it cost to buy beer? If the corner store is shilling six-packs for more than $10, is relocating to this place really worth it?

Folks who use cheap beer as a measure of a city's ultimate livability will get a kick out of this new cost-of-living calculator from Nerd Wallet, a company geared toward helping people make better financial decisions. The calculator lets you compare prices of popular groceries in different cities, so if you're torn between moving to Minneapolis or Memphis, you can see how much of a dent on your wallet each option forebodes. The products range from bread to milk to a 12-inch Pizza Hut pie, but seeing as none of these staples approach the importance of beer to life happiness, let's just get down to the countrywide ranking of suds-friendly cities.

Here is Nerd Wallet's estimation of the best places in America to score a sixer of Heineken (these averages are based on data from the ACCRA Cost of Living Index):

Conversely, here are the worst places:

The list has a few surprises. What the heck is driving up the price of Heineken in Richmond, Indiana, a community of 37,000 people who earn a median household income of $30,000? And why isn't Brooklyn represented on the most-expensive list – are corner-store prices really that much higher in Queens?

There are many other bones you could pick with these rankings. If you're making a killing in New York, do you really care about the cost of beer? You probably just drink gin with artisanal bitters, anyway. And why is Heineken used as a benchmark? A lot of folks who only care about cost would just go with Old Milwaukee or Miller Light. Or if they do consider quality when choosing beer, there are plenty of much tastier brews than Heineken that would sell for about the same amount.

Still, it's fun to play around with this calculator, which if you're not a beer fan offers a caffeinated alternative in the form of Starbucks lattes. There's also a comparison of cities by bar density, helpful for people who prefer social drinking over, you know, demolishing a six-pack at home. By Nerd Wallet's calculations, Los Angeles falls near the bottom, probably because of its sprawl (this graph is based on data from the Yellow Pages):

This post originally appeared at The Atlantic Cities.

DON'T MISS: An Australian Beer Company Is Turning This Deserted Island Into A Paradise For Dudes

Please follow The Life on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

To show off how quirky it is, Heineken made a video about its ridiculously bizarre interview process for an events intern position. (Watch below.)

The job landscape is really a buyer's market, so the Dutch brewing company decided to have fun with some of the 1,734 people who applied for the internship.

Candidates had to hold hands with the interviewer, among other bizarre tasks, like participating in a fire drill. "It made me feel... comfortable," a hopeful intern said when asked about the hand-holding experience. Weird.

Mashable's Todd Wasserman notes that"many brands — particularly European ones — seem to have a fascination with punking consumers from their target demo."

He used Nivea's new immersive campaign as an example. Nivea tricked random strangers into thinking that they were wanted by the police with the hopes that they would become so stressed out that they'd need the company's deodorant.

An advertising agency in Brussels also boasts that it makes bad interns sleep in the dungeon-like basement of a building adjacent to its office while good interns get suite accommodations.

But fear not, America likes its intern abuse, too. So much so, in fact, that ad agency Neo-Pangea had a press stunt in which it physically abused interns on a live video stream.

Watch Heineken's strange internship interview process below:

SEE ALSO: Samsung Can Make Almost Any Ad — Even One About A Washing Machine — Go Viral Read

Please follow Advertising on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

Good morning, AdLand. Here's what you need to know today:

Heineken USA switched its advertising for Tecate from a Mexican shop, Olabuenaga Chemistri, to an American one for English ads. Dallas-based Inspire was selected because, "We realized that when a Mexican agency tries to develop English creative, it feels translated,"Tecate VP of marketing Felix Palau told Ad Age."So in all honesty, we were not comfortable with the delivery." Olabuenaga Chemistri will continue to produce Spanish-language ads.

Google is upping its game for mobile marketing. The company is continuing its successful Project Re:Brief, which reimagined famous ads for  the mobile world.

The 38-year-old Carter Murray has been selected to be DraftFCB's global CEO. He was previously in charge of Y&R's North American operations.

Volvo's new ad by Cake and Rooster production focuses on kids in the backseat.

There's a boom for websites selling consignment clothing.

R/GA opened up a shop in LA.

There's yet another cool machine that separates Oreo cookies.

Previously on Business Insider Advertising:

• Read The Email WPP Sends To Rival Ad Execs It Wants To Poach
• THE RON JOHNSON DISASTER TIMELINE: 6 Months Left At JCPenney?
• Taco Bell's Facebook Marketing For Cool Ranch Doritos Totally Backfired
• Burger King Is Moving From Bro-Humor To A Family-Friendly Look
• Amazon's New Mobile Ad Network Is A Huge Threat To Google
• Sears, JCPenney Pull Ads From SNL Over Skit Showing Jesus As Gun-Toting Killer
• Dove Releases Photoshop Action That Undoes Retouching On Models
• Vatican Celebrates Pope Benedict XVI With E-Book Written In Comic Sans

Please follow Advertising on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

As far as sports-related beer ads go, Heineken has nailed it with this spot for the European club rugby tournament the Heineken Cup.

A village in southern France gathers in the main square. A valuable Heineken rugby ball, kicked at a clock tower to start the Cup festivities, goes on an errant bouncing spree. The dude who kicked it is guilted into chasing it down.

The ad follows the ball's journey through the town, with rugby references scattered throughout — a scrum of sheep; an underhand toss of a Heineken 12-pack; a line-out lift to finally catch the ball.

It's cute, cheerful, and will probably make you wish you were European. The agency is Rothco, Dublin:

Please follow Advertising on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

Good morning, AdLand. Here's what you need to know today:

Heineken launched a reality TV series in which people are placed in really strange situations, like getting dropped in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness. The Guardian reports, "The idea appears to loosely resemble the madcap, unpredictable situations experienced by the "wolfpack" in the Hangover trilogy, crossed with Bear Grylls' point-to-point survival journeys." Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam assisted with the campaign. Watch a clip below:

Daniel Rosen is the new global CEO of WPP's Joule, a mobile marketing agency. He was previously the company's Europe, Middle East, and Africa CEO. He is taking over for Michael Collins.

According to Bloomberg Businessweek, funny ads make brands stronger.

Howard Sherman is taking over as Doremus's global CEO. Sherman has worked at the shop since 2004 and will be taking the reigns from Carl Anderson.

Swiffer removed images of Rosie the Riveter following complaints that it was sexist to link an icon of the women's rights movement to house cleaning.

The Dollar Shave Club CEO released an ad for a new endeavor: butt wipes for dudes.

Salesforce.com acquired email firm ExactTarget for $2.5 billion.

Kevin Jordan is the new group creative director at DraftFCB NY. He will focus on Amtrak, FDA accounts for anti-smoking, and Nivea. He was previously at BBDO working on AT&T and Euro RSCG on Dos Equis.

Emilie Vasu moved from account director at Venables Bell & Partners in San Francisco to the new director of business development at JWT.

Previously on Business Insider Advertising:

Please follow Advertising on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

Changing plans at the last minute is hard to do, but what if a little flexibility and some courage could turn your flight to Chicago into one destined for Chiang Mai, Thailand?

All you had to do was press a button.

This was the challenge recently posed to travelers departing from New York's JFK International Airport Terminal 8, when beer company Heineken decided it was time to change some lives.

We won't spoil the results of the experiment (watch the video above), but we will admit that it's brilliant and hope it becomes a regular thing, even if only twice a year.

Watch:

SEE ALSO: London's Airport Wants To Expand — It Just Has To Demolish These Villages First

Join the conversation about this story »