Last year, beer company Heineken introduced the Gaming Fridge, a PC with a fridge installed, but now it wants to put the power to get a Heineken 0.0–its non-alcoholic beer–into players’ hands with its Cool Down Controller. Heineken 0.0 launched the controller at CCXP24, a Comic-Con event in Brazil, where fans could see the device in action.
Designed and conceptualized by creative agency LePub Sao Paulo and Milan in partnership with Heineken 0.0, the control is said to know when to “refresh” players during high-pressure moments via advanced sensors that monitors both button pressure and movement intensity. When things become too heated, the controller’s light shifts from green to red, triggering a special delivery service that automatically sends a Heineken 0.0 to everyone on the player’s team.
“We considered every detail to address a common challenge faced by players: the pressure that can occasionally affect the enjoyment of the entire team,” explained Felipe Cury, CCO at LePub Sao Paulo in a press release. “Our goal was to offer a fun and sociable solution that lightens the mood, bringing the excitement back to the forefront and giving everyone a reason to pause, reconnect, and dive back into the game together.”
To develop this technology, Heineken 0.0 partnered with LeGarage, the innovation center of LePub, which developed the advanced sensor technology. This responsive system allows the controller to react in real-time, signaling a cooldown moment just when it’s needed.
There are no details on how the delivery system would work on a local level, but the company said that the Cool Down Controller will be featured in several activations over the coming months. While you likely won’t ever be able to buy a Cool Down Controller, there are great deals on DualSense PS5 controllers and Xbox Elite Series 2 controllers going on now, with the latter at an all-time low price.
