Heineken has weighed into the problem of growing divisiveness between people. Superbly. The idea comes from Publicis London.

It explores whether the benefit of finding common ground with one another can lead people to be more open in their thinking.

In the campaign, Open Your World, Publicis got two people with opposite beliefs about an issue – like gender identity, feminism and climate change – to co-operate on a simple project.

At this point, neither knew the other’s views or why they were asked to join the experiment. The strangers complete the task together – by which time they have bonded to some degree – then watch a film. A film in which each reveals his or her views on the issue. Heineken then invites them to discuss their differences over a beer or leave.

As part of the campaign, Heineken teamed up with The Human Library, a unique not-for-profit organisation. It’s a place where real people are on loan to readers rather than books. People with different views from different backgrounds and where difficult questions are expected, appreciated and answered. Anyone can borrow a person for a conversation, a debate and a chance to find common ground.

Heineken will be running a series of events across the UK, where the public can meet some of these people.

Heineken is also running internal Mix It Up sessions, in which Heineken employees from its offices and breweries across the UK will be encouraged to spend time over a sandwich or beer with people in the organisation they haven’t met before.

And Heineken has created a Facebook Chatbot that connects (unexpectedly) like-minded people from diverse backgrounds. Users need to answer a few questions about their passions and the bot will create a own personalised film that shows what they have in common with those they didn’t expect.

Cindy Tervoort, head of marketing at Heineken, commented, “Open Your World is the first-time Heineken has launched a campaign of this nature in the UK. Joining forces with The Human Library is a way for us to inspire more people to focus on the things that unite us rather than divide us.

“We don’t all support the same football team, listen to the same music or share the same taste in clothes. We know we’re never going to agree on everything but there will also be common ground. Whether it’s 1950, 2017 or 2027, being open lets us get more out of life. It makes the world a more interesting place. And it makes every story worth listening to.”