Heineken and ITV have renewed their product placement partnership that sees Heineken 0.0 feature in soaps Emmerdale and Coronation Street.

The renewed deal means Heineken 0.0 Draught will feature in Emmerdale’s Woolpack and Coronation Street’s Rover’s Return pubs for at least the next 18 months. This includes characters in the shows ordering a “pint of zero”.

According to market research company Savanta, the combined viewership of the two programmes has helped spread awareness of the growing low- and no-alcohol category.

Data from the firm showed that 75% of Coronation Street viewers and 77% of Emmerdale viewers agree with the statement that “drinking low- and no-alcohol beer in pubs is becoming more and more normal”. In addition, 62% of viewers aware of the product placement said they wanted to find out more about Heineken 0.0.

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Heineken 0.0 is currently the market leader in the non-alcoholic beer segment, according to Nielsen, with a 30% market share. “We are totally committed to bringing no and low alcohol beer from the periphery into the mainstream – and the data shows that this partnership is having a real impact,” said James Crampton, corporate affairs director at Heineken UK. “That collective mind-shift is happening. Emmerdale and Coronation Street have huge cultural currency – people are seeing their favourite characters order pints of 0.0 in the Rover’s Return and Woolpack and it’s helping make it permissible for them in their real lives.”

John Whiston, managing director of continuing drama at ITV, added: “As a responsible broadcaster it’s important to reflect the nation’s increasingly diverse drinking habits on screen and research reveals that showing Heineken 0.0 as a drink of choice for our characters, is helping to normalise and drive the uptake of alcohol-free lager.”

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