In a unique—and bizarre convergence of beer and soccer, Anheuser-Busch InBev will launch a limited edition of its popular Brahma beer made from barley grown on the soccer field where Brazil’s iconic World Cup teams have trained for decades. Brahma Selecao Especial will be sold in Brazil starting in March, three months before the Brazil-hosted World Cup kicks off.
“Brahma is the official sponsor of the Brazilian soccer team, and the official beer of the World Cup,” said Sergio Gordilho, co-president and chief creative officer of Brahma agency Africa. “We wanted to launch a product that got inside the team itself. How do you unite soccer and beer?”
The training center, called Granja Comary, is considered sacred ground to Brazilian soccer fans, and one of the two iconic symbols of Brazilian soccer, along with Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana stadium, he said. That inspired the idea of making beer from ingredients sown on the field where Brazil grew more World Cup-winning teams—five–than any other country. It’s usually not available for growing a crop of barley, but in a stroke of luck the Brazilian Soccer Confederation was remodeling its headquarters at the Granja Comary, and the training center wasn’t being used during that project.
“Good ideas have an ingredient of luck,” Mr. Gordilho said.
Brazil’s Brahma Finds Unique Way to Merge Beer and Soccer http://t.co/VFyPfToJwn … pic.twitter.com/j7wvg3WdMJ
— Will Corry (@slievemore) February 25, 2014