Rumour, Star Power, and a Bakala: Inside Holsten’s Georgina Campaign

Advertisement

The campaign, built around the tagline “Treat Yourself with a Holsten”, was shot entirely in the Kingdom and leans on a playful, hyper-local storyline.

The premise: Georgina has been spotted making weekly visits to a neighbourhood ‘bakala‘ (convenience store) to pick up her favourite treat—a bottle of Holsten. The rumour spreads across Riyadh, fuelling chatter in homes, offices, and group chats, until it culminates in a surprise appearance by Rodríguez herself.

A Viral Moment Turned Strategy

The creative idea, developed by M&C Saatchi Group Middle East, Dentsu, and BOHO Films, taps into everyday Saudi culture with humour and light-hearted relatability. The bakala, familiar to everyone in the Gulf as the corner shop woven into daily life, becomes the stage for a global star. By pairing local cultural cues with Georgina’s aspirational image, Holsten positions itself as both premium and approachable—elevated, yet accessible.

The campaign isn’t confined to film. It spans Shahid, TikTok, Meta, cinemas, and outdoor, ensuring Georgina’s Holsten moment is hard to miss. But the strategy didn’t stop at screens.

For three days in September, Holsten recreated Rajeev’s Bakala at Riyadh Boulevard, the city’s premier entertainment and lifestyle hub at the heart of Riyadh Season.

The pop-up allowed visitors to step into the viral storyline, sample Holsten, and get their hands on limited-edition Georgina × Holsten merchandise.

Building Relevance in Saudi Youth Culture

For Holsten, this campaign is more than a celebrity endorsement. It’s about relevance. Saudi Arabia’s youth culture is increasingly defined by premium choices, self-expression, and light entertainment.

By tapping into a meme-like rumour and amplifying it with star power, Holsten speaks the language of Gen Z and millennials—audiences hungry for experiences that blend humour, exclusivity, and cultural resonance.

As Dorothea Drews, Marketing Manager MEA at Carlsberg Group, explained, “Humour and hyper-localisation were deliberate choices to connect authentically with our Saudi audience. The playful, light-hearted tone made the campaign feel approachable and shareable, enhancing engagement across social channels.”

ArabAd’s Take

The Holsten campaign is a smart reminder of how far brands will go to merge local culture with global celebrity. While the premise is knowingly fictional—Georgina never really sipped a Holsten at a Riyadh corner shop—the narrative works precisely because it plays with rumour, anticipation, and the cultural currency of word-of-mouth.

Celebrity endorsements have long been a shortcut to attention, but in today’s market, the real challenge is cultural fit. Here, Holsten finds its sweet spot: a premium European brand embedding itself in everyday Saudi life through humour and hyper-local detail, while leveraging Rodríguez’s aspirational profile.

The pop-up element, too, is telling. Temporary activations are increasingly how brands make noise in crowded markets—blending scarcity, experience, and shareability.

In a market where exclusivity is prized, the Georgina × Holsten merchandise gave fans a tangible way to own a piece of the story.

For ArabAd, the lesson is clear: celebrity campaigns still work, but only when they go beyond star power to engage with culture, humour, and context. And when paired with an immersive pop-up? That’s when a brand truly turns a rumour into reality, as pop-ups have become the go-to play for brands wanting buzz: short-lived, highly shareable, and designed to tap FOMO. 

CREDITS:

Client:
Carlsberg Group

Dorothea Drews – Marketing Manager MEA at Carlsberg Group


Sally Shin – Brand Manager at Carlsberg Group


Olivia Wiklund  – International Commercial Graduate

Agencies:

M+C Saatchi Group Middle East


Ryan Reed – Chief Creative Officer


Natalie Cooke Tombs, Group Managing Director


Dario Albuquerque – Executive Creative Director


Mark Haycock, Head of Strategy


Samar Mustafa, Strategist


Bilel Labjaoui – Creative Director


Jarrad Pitts – Creative Director


Zainab Yasseen – Senior Creative


Mahmoud Gahallah – Senior Creative


Ahmed Mansour – Art Director


Ahmed Bahaa – Copywriter


Rasha Lambe, Business Lead


Katie Dumbrell, Account Director


Seran Dilshan, Account executive


Ahmed Magdy, Social Media Executive


Ananda Swanepoel, Head of Production


Stella Violla, Producer


Jose Romualdez, Senior Editor


Rami Al Ekhlasi, Animator


Rashmi Jeetendra – Head of PR


Alaa Salameh – PR Account Director


Sydney Miranda – PR Account Manager


Renad Nahfawi  – PR Account Executive

Dentsu


Claire Peach, Media Director


Aya Daher, Media Manager


Elissa Khalil, Senior Performance Executive


Anji Toutounji, Media Planning Executive

Boho Films


Vania Aoun, Executive Producer


Samah Obeid, Line Producer 

Directors – Shank & Omar El Zohairy


Photographer – Ahmed Othman