As the need for physical distancing continues across Australia and around the world, international premium beer brand, Heineken, has developed a new concept designed to give drinkers complete peace of mind when ordering a beer while providing a novel drinking experience in the process.

As part of its Now You Can campaign, Heineken unveiled a first-of-its-kind ‘zero contact bar’ for its premium alcohol-free beer brand, Heineken 0.0, in response to COVID-19 guidelines that continue to shape the way drinkers enjoy their beers.

In classic Heineken style, this is no ordinary bar and allows drinkers to enjoy a beer just the way they like it – and this time, with ample elbow room.

The creative and production has been spearheaded by Momentum Worldwide while Red Havas has led the PR and communications activity.

To bring the innovative bar concept to life, the brand used a contactless robotic arm, which was developed by a team of robotics students and engineers from the University of Sydney.

Through the robotic technology, the Heineken Zer0.0 Contact Bar will create a seamless, safe – and cool – twist to bar service.

Two robotic arms – named Heidi and Ken – served up Heineken 0.0 with the beer delivered ice cold via a ‘beer train’ – a conveyor belt that runs through the bar.

No person-to-person contact is necessary before the beer is consumed.

The Heineken Zer0.0 Contact Bar opened in Sydney for a four-day run, giving Sydneysiders a chance to enjoy this unique bar.

With the bar providing a ‘alcohol-free, contact-free’ proposition, the beer will also be free for drinkers to enjoy.

To ensure bar patrons get the most out of the experience, the Heineken Zer0.0 Contact Bar permitted one person at a time, bringing a new definition to ‘private bar’.