Heineken's Super Bowl ad for non-alcoholic beer will star Ant-Man

Heineken is bringing its non-alcoholic beer to the Super Bowl, with help from Marvel's Ant-Man, continuing a partnership that began during college football’s championship game. 

A 30-second spot for Heineken 0.0 will run in the game’s first half. It continues a campaign that began with a 15-second ad that debuted on Jan. 9, the same day as the college football title game. It plugged the beer and “Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania,” which premieres in theaters on Feb. 17.

That spot (below) stars Paul Rudd, as will the Super Bowl ad. Marvel Studios’ partnerships team produced the creative in collaboration with Heineken 0.0, Publicis agency Le Pub and production company Bullitt.

In a Super Bowl that will be filled with ads from a variety of alcohol brands, Heineken USA said it would make a mark as the first non-alcoholic adult beverage to run a Super Bowl ad. Beer brands from Molson Coors and Anheuser-Busch InBev, as well as Crown Royal and Rémy Martin, are running Super Bowl ads this year after AB InBev last summer surrendered exclusivity on alcohol ads, which it had held since 1989.

Heineken 0.0’s ad comes as mindful drinking and low- or no-alcohol lifestyles gain popularity and the non-alcoholic beer category is rapidly growing. The non-alcoholic beverage category is poised to grow by 27.6% among 21-to-24-year-olds by 2025, based on data from beverage industry analysis firm IWSR recently cited by Molson Coors. The company this month added to its non-alc portfolio with a new booze-free canned cocktail line called Roxie.