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Alcohol-free Heineken on tap in Coronation Street and Emmerdale
ITV soap viewers will soon see Ken Barlow supping on a half pint of non-alcoholic beer as Coronation Street has partnered with Heineken to put the Dutch brewer’s 0.0 Draught on tap at The Rovers Return Inn.
Barlow has had his fair number of staged scraps in the pub, including fisticuffs with Len Fairclough, but such drink-fuelled altercations in soap operas could soon be a thing of the past. ITV explained the partnership as a means of normalising alcohol-free beer and, with greater visibility, “[breaking] down stigmas” surrounding not drinking alcohol.
Fictional brewery Newton and Ridley built the fictional Rovers Return, though it has been a free house for almost thirty years. The Heineken deal could be seen as a multinational corporation forcing out an entirely made up small, local brewery. However, ITV’s managing director of continuing drama John Whiston described the deal as less of a hostile takeover and more of a “gentle reminder that there are great, modern, thirst-quenching alternatives to having one too many pints of Newton and Ridley.”
The non-alcoholic beer will also be available at Emmerdale‘s The Woolpack. The country pub has been the centre of numerous stories in the show’s 50 year runtime, including a fireball and debris from a crashed Russian airliner destroying the wine bar annexe in 1993. Having a more inclusive range of beers on tap is a slightly less dramatic plot line by comparison, but bringing non-alcoholic drinks into the mainstream is noteworthy nonetheless.
Heineken UK’s corporate affairs director James Crampton noted “people’s evolving lifestyles and changes to their relationship with alcohol”. Crampton said that viewers will see “landlords they love” (currently Jenny Bradley at The Rovers Return and Charity Dingle at The Woolpack) pulling pints of Heineken 0.0 and “their favourite soap characters drink it”.
The cost of the deal is yet to be disclosed, though it coincides with Heineken’s pledge to have as many 0.0 taps as Original taps in British pubs by 2025.
The beers will be seen on the small screen from April 29.