WTF?! Remember the bit in Star Wars when Obi-Wan Kenobi hands Luke a beer fresh from the fridge? How about the part in Return of the Jedi when Emperor Palpatine uses the Force to pull a can into his hand as the Skywalkers look on in awe? If you watched these movies on Chilean TV around 2003, the scenes might sound familiar.
Around 20 years ago the original Star Wars trilogy was first broadcast on television in Chile. But there was something distinctly different about these movies: they featured beer advertisements inserted directly into the films.
X/Twitter user Windy explains that to avoid cutting away from the movies for commercial breaks, the commercials were stitched into the scenes. The one from Star Wars in which Kenobi tells Luke "your father wanted you to have this when you were old enough" before removing a bottle of Cristal Beer from the fridge is particularly inspired.
Today I learned Chile stitched commercials into Star Wars.. Cerveza Crystal! 𤣠https://t.co/QCiJV374NW
– F. Eiji Marinas (@hyp36rmax) March 4, 2024
Other scenes include Obi-Wan reaching for a cold one while he's supposed to be shutting off the Death Star's tractor beam, and, in Return of the Jedi, the Emperor using his force powers to get loaded. We also see Luke taking a break from training with Yoda during The Empire Strikes Back to open a can.
Palpatine You Have To Stop. You Smoke Too Tough. Your Swag Too Different. Your Bitch Is Too Bad. They'll Kill You pic.twitter.com/rAbW8xUawQ
– Windy ð¸ (@heyitswindy) March 2, 2024
The Cerveza Cristal commercials first appeared in the original Star Wars during a December 2003 screening by Chilean broadcaster Channel 13. Gizmodo notes that the campaign won a top award in the media category at the 2004 Cannes International Advertising Festival.
The alcoholism is strong in my family. My father has it. I have it. And my sister has it. pic.twitter.com/FuMUeAiNX5
– Windy ð¸ (@heyitswindy) March 2, 2024
One person who was certainly not happy about the campaign was George Lucas, the creator of Star Wars. He filed a grievance with the Chilean Council for Self-Regulation and Advertising Ethics in 2004, arguing that the changes suggested an official tie-in between the movies and Cerveza Cristal.
Around 2003 in Chile, when the original trilogy of Star Wars began airing on television there, they did this funny thing to avoid cutting to commercial breaks. They stitched the commercials into the films themselves. Here is one of them, with the English dub added in. pic.twitter.com/wC7N2vPNvv
– Windy ð¸ (@heyitswindy) March 2, 2024
Lucas won the case, ensuring that the edited versions of the movies were never broadcast again. However, Channel 13 and Cerveza Cristal partnered on more campaigns later that year, inserting beer ads into American Beauty, Notting Hill, and Gladiator.
https://www.techspot.com/news/102132-chilean-tv-once-inserted-beer-ads-directly-star.html
The title of this article is funny. The slang meaning is that George Lucas was "drunk" over this??? 
