The archive · Marketing & Growth · Strategic decision · 2024–2025
Heineken turns Irish pubs into AR museums to unlock heritage grants — Eurobest GP
QR plaques turn Sean's Bar and two other pubs into AR museums with audio guides, making them eligible for cultural grants — two Eurobest 2024 Grands Prix follow
Heineken Ireland · LePub Milan · Publicis Dublin
What it had to solve
Irish pubs are cultural landmarks, but after the pandemic's hit to hospitality many face closure — more than 2,100 pubs have shut in Ireland since 2005. Heineken wanted to protect the trade's heritage without a charity pitch.
How it works
Irish pubs are internationally recognized cultural landmarks, yet the hospitality crisis left many struggling to stay open. Heineken's response was not another 'come for the beer' campaign but a redefinition of what a pub legally is: it turned historic pubs into virtual museums, making them eligible for the financial advantages — government grants and tax exemptions — normally reserved for cultural institutions.
With LePub Milan, Publicis Dublin, historians and XR studio Lens That, the team gave three iconic pubs a museum layer: Sean's Bar in Athlone (reputedly the world's oldest), Toners in Dublin and Mother Macs in Limerick. A QR-coded plaque outside each pub launches an augmented-reality overlay that narrates local legends; inside, photogrammetry and indoor navigation turned historical objects into 3D exhibits with audio guides, recreating the experience of a traditional museum.
The reframe worked at every level. The pubs gained eligibility for grants and tax breaks reserved for cultural landmarks, supporting the Vintners' Federation of Ireland's campaign for UNESCO recognition of pub culture. The work then collected Eurobest 2024 Grands Prix in Audio & Radio and Outdoor, a shelf of Cannes Lions, a Clio 2025 Grand Winner, and Ireland's first Immortal Awards Commendation — and grew into Heineken's ongoing 'For the Love of Pubs' platform.
Why it lands
- It solves a business problem — pub survival — by changing the category pubs belong to, not by asking consumers to feel sorry.
- AR and photogrammetry make the heritage tangible: visitors experience legends and objects as museum exhibits inside a working pub.
- The three chosen pubs (including the world's oldest) give the claim 'pubs are culture' concrete, famous proof.
- Aligning with the Vintners' Federation's UNESCO effort turns a brand stunt into a policy-relevant movement.
- The idea compounds: it protects the venues, earns coverage and awards, and seeds a multi-year brand platform.
What it did
The pubs became eligible for government grants and tax exemptions normally reserved for cultural landmarks, backing the Vintners' Federation of Ireland's UNESCO push. The idea won Eurobest 2024 Grands Prix in Audio & Radio and Outdoor, Cannes Lions in 2024, a Clio 2025 Grand Winner, and Ireland's first Immortal Awards Commendation — and became the launch chapter of Heineken's 'For the Love of Pubs' platform.
What you can take
When an industry is losing cultural assets, change the category instead of the message: if the asset qualifies as something protected, the protection — funding, status, attention — follows.
Since then
Pub Museums became the first chapter of Heineken and Publicis Dublin's 'For the Love of Pubs' platform, followed by 'Pub Succession' and 'The Pub That Refused To Die', which won the Creative Strategy Grand Prix at Cannes Lions 2026. LBB reported that the campaign 'enabled them to secure government grants usually reserved for more official cultural landmarks', and Heineken has kept the platform running with each project tackling a specific problem the trade faces.
Sources
- Eurobest announces its Grands Prix, Special Awards and Young Creatives Competition winners for 2024
- Heineken: Pub Museums
- Ireland's First Immortal Commendation Awarded to Heineken's 'Pub Museums'
- Saving Ireland's Heartbeat with Publicis Dublin and Heineken
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