• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, October 21, 2024

At a time when digital media addiction is on the mind of regulators, advocacy groups and some big brands, at least one of the latter is doing something about it, leveraging media tech to encourage people to be more present in the real world -- and not on their mobile phones.

Heineken, with an assist from Publicis' LePub unit, over the weekend hacked live music events worldwide to deliver a "hidden message" encouraging concertgoers to minimize their mobile phone use and use the dance floor instead.

The LePub campaign teamed with Silver Live Out Festival in Mexico and Amsterdam Dance Event in the Netherlands to install technology that delivered the message via infrared lighting.

Invisible to the naked eye, but revealed when people held up their phones to film the performance, attendees were encouraged to keep the moment in their memory, not on their phone.

The effort isn't just a one-shot experiential one, but encourages concertgoers to download a "Boring Mode" app to make their smartphones less distraction overall.