“A Friend Stuck In The Office Is A Ghost At The Bar” – Heineken In Latest Work Responsibly Campaign

Heineken and Le Pub APAC have hired Korean actor Park Hyung Sik for new campaign “The Ghosted Bar” to highlight the importance of working responsibly.

Heineken’s latest Work Responsibly campaign, created in collaboration with global Korean actor Park Hyung Sik, sheds light on the overworking culture in Singapore and Malaysia through a series of ghostly encounters.

While ‘ghosting’ is a term used typically in dating, getting ghosted by a friend can hurt just as much as being ghosted by a crush. According to the latest YouGov survey commissioned by Heineken, one of the most common reasons (45 per cent) why people ‘ghost’ their friends in Singapore and Malaysia is due to their work commitments.

Park recently shared a video on Instagram that appeared to show paranormal activity in a bar — beer glasses moving on their own, chairs sliding across the room. Fans were spooked, but it turns out this haunting bar experience was all part of Heineken’s supernatural ‘The Ghosted Bar’ campaign, which highlights how a friend stuck in the office is a ghost at the bar, leaving friends hanging out with their ‘ghost’ instead.

Along with the teaser video shared by Park Hyung Sik, which achieved more than 4 million views in 24 hours, a squad of more than 15 influencers from Singapore and Malaysia amplified the content of the global Korean actor by sharing it on their Instagram and Tik Tok profiles. By Monday, the content had 6.5 million views.

“Through this meaningful project by Heineken, we want to encourage employees to start working responsibly,” says Park Hyung Sik. “We should enjoy our social life and not let it be impacted by our work,” he added.

With activations in Singapore and Malaysia, the campaign reminds employees to finish work on time and socialize with friends at a new ‘haunt’ in town. In Singapore, Heineken is hosting a ‘ghosted bar’ experience on 19 April. In Malaysia, 40 paranormal ‘ghosted bar’ experiences will take place across the country, gently spooking people into working responsibly and not ghosting their friends. Heineken and Le Pub have also created an online Ghost Generator, which can be used to remind friends to leave work on time by vaporising them into ghosts.

“Ghosted Bar is an amazing new chapter dedicated to the #WorkResponsibly platform that is raising awareness of the sensitive work-life balance issue around the world. Heineken has always encouraged and fostered socialization and healthy human connections as we feel that workers need to embrace more social and leisure time. We’re thrilled to bring this platform to Singapore and Malaysia as a reminder to leave your duties on time and not let your social life fall behind,” says Bram Westenbrink, Global Head Heineken Brand.

Why work is haunting our friendships

According to the commissioned study by YouGov, 46.5 per cent of employees in Singapore and Malaysia have “ghosted” their friends due to work obligations, 64.5 per cent feel burned out at work, while 42.5 per cent revealed that work has caused strains in their relationship with their friends and partners.

One reason for overworking that’s unique to the APAC region is a prevalent workplace culture of presenteeism — that niggling feeling of guilt over leaving work on time despite finishing the day’s work or feeling obligated to stay back until managers leave.

59 per cent of employees in Singapore and Malaysia agree that while their employers value work-life balance and encourage them to take time off, they still do not see improvement in their social life and often find themselves ‘ghosting’ their friends because of work. This is because employees (68.5 per cent) find themselves unable to reject extra work given to them — 73 per cent are afraid to reject extra work because they were assigned by their seniors/managers while 41 per cent are afraid that it will affect their promotions as they will be deemed as “lazy”.

Together with Park Hyung Sik, Heineken wants to encourage a refreshed mindset towards this culture of overworking in Singapore and Malaysia, and remind employees of the importance of working responsibly and not letting their friends down by ‘ghosting’ them so often because of work.

“When you don’t leave work on time for fear of letting down your coworkers or because of societal pressures, you let someone else down: your friends. Heineken’s Ghosted Bar campaign reminds us to leave the office after an honest day at work to live your social life at its fullest. This is what #WorkResponsibly is all about. By collaborating with global Korean actor Park Hyung Sik, the brand is encouraging people to clock off work on time, prioritize and acknowledge self-care, and rebuild work culture from a well-being perspective,” says Bruno Bertelli, Global CEO of Le Pub, Global CCO of Publicis Worldwide, CCO of Publicis Groupe Italy.

The Ghosted Bar is the third #WorkResponsibly campaign to launch from Heineken. It follows the launch of The Closer (June 2022) and The Office Cleaners (December 2022).