Stella Artois is driving summer beer sales on forecourts with its biggest-ever consumer promotion – Live Film – giving consumers a unique chance to act out their movie fantasies.

The unique value-added consumer promotion offers film prizes worth more than £20 million and will generate new sales momentum for the No 1 take-home alcoholic drinks brand.

Running on 50 million Stella Artois packs and supported with press

advertising to boost awareness, it gives consumers a once-in-a-lifetime chance to experience a film classic or win one of 1.5 million opportunities to see films at home.

In line with the brand’s track record of screening iconic films in relevant locations, the top prize is an incredible trip for ten lucky winners along with their partners to see the film, The Birdman of Alcatraz, on Alcatraz as part of a week’s holiday.

BLOCKBUSTER PRIZES

Live Film, which will also run in the on-trade during the summer, is the

culmination of a successful ten-year relationship with film under the

Stella Artois Screen banner and spearheads a record £40m marketing spend for 2005.

For the first time in the brand’s history, two new TV and cinema ads are being released in the same year with both due to debut on May 9. Other activity includes the brand’s tenth year of Channel Four film sponsorship, the tenth summer of outdoor film screenings under a new banner, Cinema Artois, and the recently launched After Dark film and music events.

Bob Reason, national account controller at Interbrew UK, says: “The focus for Stella Artois is innovative consumer activity that rewards drinkers, delivers a unique sales opportunity for retailers and drives value in the beer category. The top prize is a truly ‘money can’t buy’ experience, which we’re confident will capture the imagination of film enthusiasts across the UK.

“Film is a key leisure pursuit for adults and we’re building on Stella Artois’ well-established association with it to maximise consumer awareness.”

In addition to the Alcatraz holidays, Live Film offers 500,000 limited-edition DVDs including top quality films Road to Perdition, The Beach and Fight Club and one million consumers will win free on-line subscriptions to Blockbuster. Consumers who purchase a promotional pack have to look under the bottle cap or can ring-pull to see if there is a six-digit code which means they have won a prize.

GEARING UP FOR THE SUMMER

Interbrew UK says forecourt operators can maximise the summer sales

opportunity by:

• Making sure that shoppers are aware that ready-chilled beer is available

by using signage in and around the

forecourt.

• Ensuring they have adequate stocks of chilled beer during peak purchase periods, such as after 5pm or Friday and Saturday, when people will be

buying beer for barbecues.

• Concentrating on big brands such as Stella Artois, by far the most popular choice at summer events such as

barbecues.

• Stocking larger packs of big brands to cater for the seasonal increase in bulk purchase occasions.

For further information on Interbrew UK and its brands, please contact Interbrew UK’s new business helpline: 0870 169 6969.