The idea of a digital land that will mimic a real world has been doing the rounds for sometime now. It gained momementum after Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg shifted gears last year and made a pitch for the metaverse by renaming his company.
Before Zuckerberg joined the virtual world movement, some people were already engrossed in buying and selling jpg pictures and other sundry digital avatars online.
Several brands have joined the trend in the past few months. Shoemaker Nike set up shop in the virtual world. In December, it bought virtual shoe company RTFKT for an undisclosed sum, saying it would help it “serve athletes and creators at the intersection of sport, creativity, gaming and culture”.
Investment bank JP Morgan Chase said it believes the metaverse would eventually be a trillion dollar industry, and went on to set up a virtual lounge in Decentraland.
The latest brand to join the metaverse party is the world famour beer company Heineken. The company has set up a virtual store to sell virtual beer.
“Raise your glasses, VR glasses. Virtual beer is now a reality,” the company notes on its home page.
The Dutch beer company went a bit further and poked fun at its own beer on the metaverse.
“Our new virtual beer, Heineken Silver is an ironic joke,” Bram Westenbrink, Global Head Heineken Brand, said. “It is a self-aware idea that pokes fun at us and many other brands that are jumping into the metaverse with products that are best enjoyed in the real world.”
