• by Fern Siegel , May 25, 2022

To bring tourism back to Cusco, Peru, Publicis Worldwide Peru and Cusqueña, Peru's flagship beer brand, created a statue.

The Impossible Hug represents the embrace Peruvians would like to extend to others in a time of social distancing.

The idea is based, in part, on the two malts used for Double Malt, which the campaign says is "made of impossible.” The agency and beer maker created a two-part sculpture of embraced figures, housed in the Plaza de San Blas, a neighborhood of artisans in Cusco.

The goal is to draw people to see the artwork, thereby restarting the town’s travel economy, its primary income source.

The sculptures were created by two artists, one from Lima, bRafael Lanfranco, a pop artist who combines Andean elements in contemporary proposals, and the other from a Cusco artist, Edi Mérida, heir to one of the important artisan families of Cusco and manager of the Museo Inkariy, which keeps the nation’s pre-Columbian legacy alive.

“We couldn't just make a commercial launch and turn our backs on the city where Cerveza Cusqueña was born," said Nelson Fragoso, GM-Chief Creative Officer, Publicis Worldwide Peru.

"Peru had one of the earliest and longest quarantines in the world, when the pandemic began, the closure of external and internal borders, and all the restrictions that the government added to the political instability, due to the vacancy of the president. Tourist activity came to a complete standstill throughout 2020 and almost all of 2021,” he added.

Nearly 50 artists created scale reproductions of the Impossible Hug, while Cusqueña coordinated the distance sale of these handcrafted pieces via the brand’s channels. 

Cusqueña's parent company is Anheuser-Busch InBev.

Separately, Cusqueña and Publicis Worldwide Peru conditioned a Michelin tire store and just created “Michelin Tire & Dine,” the first Michelin pop-up restaurant in Peru, together with the renowned Chef Victor Gutierrez.

Gutierrez is the first Peruvian chef to win two Michelin stars in Spain.