Summer tour

To kick off the summer, Heineken USA released six special-edition bottles inspired by the popular global destinations New York, London, Berlin, Amsterdam, Rio and Shanghai. Designed to encourage consumers of legal drinking age to break out of their routines and discover the secrets of their cities, each bottle label features a print of one of the six cities, the city’s name, and an enlarged Heineken red star, all on Heineken’s signature green glass bottle. In addition, through July 4, the themed packaging included codes that consumers could enter on heineken.com for a chance to win occasion-relevant daily prizes and grand-prize trips to the destinations featured on the bottles. Heineken’s City Bottles are available globally as part of its “Open Your Summer” and “Cities of the World” campaigns.

Transformed cans

Big Red Soda is getting in on the action of summer movie “Transformers: Age of Extinction” with six limited-edition cans. In honor of the fourth movie in the action series, four of the cans in this packaging series feature updated renderings of “Transformers” characters Optimus Prime and Bumblebee in various poses. Fans also can pick a side with collector’s edition Big Red Zero Autobot and Decepticon themed cans. Also as part of Big Red’s “Transformers” promotion, the soda brand is hosting a $25,000 sweepstakes, which gives fans the chance to win “Transformers” collectable figures, Hasbro toys inspired by the movie, T-shirts, DVDs, posters or a cooler that transforms into a picnic table.

Because of the brave

This summer, Riunite is dressing its Lambrusco wine bottle in patriotic American red, white and blue colors to raise awareness for the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), a nonprofit organization assisting families of fallen military service members. Classic American stars and stripes as well as the image of soaring jets salute the troops on the brand’s first-ever limited-edition bottle. The Italian wine label, imported in the United States by Banfi Vintners, plans to donate $1 for every patriotic bottle sold through Labor Day to TAPS.

Going for the goal

Brown-Forman Corp.’s el Jimador brand, the official tequila sponsor of the U.S. National Soccer Team and the annual U.S. Tour of the Mexican National Team, donned team colors for its special-edition FIFA World Cup tournament bottles. Available for a limited time in the brand’s Blanco and Reposado expressions, these bottles use a street art splash-stroke effect to incorporate a soccer ball with team logos and colors. In addition, the lower portion of the design further reflects team colors by incorporating black on the team USA bottle and red on the team Mexico bottle. The package is part of the brand’s “Take Home the Spirit campaign,” which also includes a Foursquare social media component, in-store promotions, a sweepstakes and coupons. 

Going rogue

On June 1, Rogue Ales and Spirits celebrated the American armed forces with the release of its Rogue American Amber Ale in 16-ounce grenade cans. The new cans are available in four-packs alongside American Amber Ale in 22-ounce serigraphed bottles, 12-ounce six-packs, 64-ounce growlers and on draft.

Canned for protection

Formula O2 launched a new line of oxygenated energy drinks in 16-ounce Rexam cans. Formula O2 recovery drinks are infused with 10 times more oxygen than tap water to help eliminate toxins, 2.5 times more electrolytes than leading sports drinks, and 140 mg of natural caffeine, the company says. The company chose aluminum cans for the launch of formula O2 because they offer optimum barrier properties that protect the integrity of the oxygen content in the product and offer portability and sustainability features, it adds.

Feminine sizing

 Hiball Energy introduced four of its most popular sparkling energy waters and two of its organic energy drinks — including a new Ginger Ale flavor — in smaller-sized 8.4-ounce cans from Ball Corp. “There are three main reasons for us to expand into the smaller 8.4-ounce can,” said Todd Berardi, founder and president of Hiball Energy, in a statement. “Consumer demand is our primary driver. Many of our female consumers asked us for a smaller size for a variety of reasons, including being easier to carry, wanting less to consume in a single sitting, and being able to fit Hiball in a purse without adding too much weight and space. We also received many requests from our on-premise food and corporate campus accounts for a smaller can that their on-the-go patrons could take with them at a lower price point. Lastly, the smaller cans also allow for more flexible single-serve and multi-serve four-pack display opportunities at key retailers.” Like Hiball’s 16-ounce offerings, the new 8.4-ounce cans feature Ball’s “cold activation” technology.