• by Steve Ellwanger , May 16, 2023

Austrian-born wheat beer Edelweiss is doubling down on “sensory delight” to differentiate itself from other myriad beer commercials.

That entails using creative with no music or spoken words—just visuals of people experiencing the Alps, accompanied by sounds designed to trigger autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR).

It comes to life in a collaboration between the Fred & Farid Los Angeles agency and Peruvian fashion photographer Hans Neumann, and is the latest iteration of a campaign commercial that won a Clio Award last year.

As the new “Feel The Alps” spot opens above snow-topped mountains, a woman sips from a glass of Edelweiss and seemingly unleashes sounds of roaring wind, a rushing stream and chirping birds—interspersed with images of roiling, orange beer.

She’s soon joined by three other people romping through the wilds.

“When directing the new Feel the Alps campaign, I wanted to tell a story that revolves around the actual experience of drinking this aromatic beer, transcending beyond simply how it tastes,” Neumann said in a news release.

“To do so, I worked to plunge viewers into the world of the Alps, using a blend of camera angles, editing and the science of ASMR sound design.”

A tingling sensation that typically begins on the scalp and moves down the body, ASMR can provide “the subjective experience of ‘low-grade euphoria,’” according to Wikipedia. 

Fred & Farid Los Angeles cited data from YouTube’s 2022 Culture & Trends Report that said about 83% of the Gen Z age cohort use YouTube “to watch soothing content that helps them to relax.”

This 2022 Edelweiss commercial won Clio’s Sound Design Bronze Award.