Ever wondered what happens to the alcohol that’s removed from 0% beer? In one case, at least, that alcohol is going to good use by creating hand sanitizer that Portuguese beer brand Super Bock Group is then donating to hospitals.
The brand is temporarily renaming its alcohol-free beer “Super Doc” as a tribute to the healthcare professionals working around the clock to treat people with Covid-19.
Super Bock announced the initiative today with a 40-second spot, which shows an exhausted looking healthcare worker—face bruised from where her personal protective equipment presses into her forehead and nose—reaching into the fridge for a beer. But before she’s able to even crack open a cold one, she gets a phone call from work and says she’ll be right there.
She sets the beer back on the shelf, label facing the camera, which reads: “Super Doc.”
Portuguese agency O Escritório brought the idea of the name change to the brand, said Bruno Albuquerque, Super Bock Group’s marketing director for Portugal. Working together, they created something that pays “tribute to all health professionals who are fighting the pandemic in the frontline,” he said, while also providing tangible help to hospitals.
To remove the alcohol from the beer, Super Bock uses a process called pervaporation, separating the steam in a special column to isolate the alcohol through partial vaporization, said Albuquerque. That alcohol is then shipped to partner distillery Levira, where it’s used to make disinfectant gel and sent to hospitals.
“To this day, Super Bock has donated more than 20,000 liters of disinfectant gel, produced according to the [World Health Organization] guidelines,” said Albuqurque.
The spot will be airing on social through the end of May, but may expand into linear television in the coming weeks. The special edition beer will be available in Portugal for the next three months.
