AB InBev subsidiary Ambev is using Netflix’s hit series Bridgerton to market flavoured alcoholic beverages to young women in Brazil. The campaign – wrapping alcopops in the glamour of a romance series whose audience is more than 75% female – is one of the first major outcome of a three-year global partnership between AB InBev and Netflix announced in September 2025, exploiting regulatory blind spots to normalise alcohol use through entertainment.
In September 2025, AB InBev and Netflix announced what both companies called an “unprecedented” multi-year global partnership. The deal – previously documented on Big Alcohol Exposed – grants AB InBev access to title integrations, co-branded campaigns, limited-edition packaging, and advertising around Netflix live events across markets worldwide. Sullivan & Cromwell, the law firm advising AB InBev, confirmed the agreement as a three-year strategic partnership covering sponsorship, product placement, and original content development opportunities.
Brazil is among the first markets where this deal has been activated. Ambev, AB InBev’s Brazilian subsidiary and the country’s dominant beverage company, is part of a group of major corporations – alongside JBS, Unilever, and Coty – investing in licensed products tied to Bridgerton’s new season, as reported by Valor Econômico. The Ambev products include Brutal Fruit, a flavoured alcoholic beverage launched with a campaign centred on “friendship,” and Tônica Antarctica, a tonic water given special-edition Bridgerton packaging with a campaign built around “elegance.” Celebrity-fronted promotional events are planned for Carnival 2026 and the Vogue Ball 2026.
The distinction between these two products matters – but so does what connects them. Brutal Fruit is a 5% ABV alcopop originally developed in South Africa and described by AB InBev as designed for people who prefer “a lighter, fruit-flavored alcohol beverage with a champagne-style fizz.” Tônica Antarctica is technically non-alcoholic, but tonic water is primarily sold and consumed as a mixer for spirits. Both products serve the same strategic function: embedding Ambev’s alcohol marketing ecosystem in the visual world of a popular romance series.
Bridgerton’s audience profile explains the choice. Nielsen data show that the series’ audience is approximately 76–80% female, with strong viewership among 18–34 year-olds. Parrot Analytics has noted that over 70% of the original Bridgerton audience is under 30. The series is one of the most-watched English-language titles in Netflix history, generating billions of viewing minutes across its seasons.
This is precisely the audience that AB InBev’s “Beyond Beer” division targets. Brutal Fruit sits within this division, which Ambev has described as reaching 63% of the company’s new consumers – people who do not already use beer. By licensing the Bridgerton brand for a flavoured alcoholic beverage, Ambev wants to target young women through a cultural product they already engage with.
Declining sales, expanding marketing
AB InBev’s global beer volumes fell 2.6% across 2025, with Brazil among its worst-performing markets. In the second quarter of 2025, AB InBev’s beer volumes in Brazil dropped by 9%, a decline so severe that it sent the company’s share price to a five-month low. For the full year, Ambev’s beer volumes in Brazil declined 4.6%.
AB InBev’s own leadership has been explicit about the purpose of the Netflix deal. Global Chief Marketing Officer Marcel Marcondes stated that the partnership is about creating “deeper experiences with consumers” while they watch “the content that shapes culture.” Netflix’s Chief Marketing Officer Marian Lee described the company’s titles as able to “pierce the cultural zeitgeist in ways few others can.”
An alcohol corporation facing declining sales in a key market has partnered with the world’s largest streaming platform to embed its products in a hit series – because traditional marketing is no longer reaching the consumers it needs.
Brazil’s regulatory gaps
Brazil’s alcohol advertising law was written for a pre-streaming era – and it shows. The Murad Law restricts alcohol advertising on radio and television to between 9pm and 6am. Global streaming platforms like Netflix fall outside the law’s explicit scope entirely.
The gap is structural: Brazil’s alcohol advertising law does not cover the platform, and product licensing is not treated as advertising in the first place. As the Valor Econômico report noted, product licensing has become central to Netflix’s commercial strategy precisely because it takes content “beyond the streaming environment” – and beyond the reach of media regulators. AB InBev is operating in a space where regulation simply does not exist.
The AB InBev–Netflix partnership is designed for global deployment, with activations already announced across the UK, Mexico, South Korea, India, and the United States. The three-year deal covers co-marketing campaigns, title integrations, live event sponsorship, and – as Brazil now demonstrates – licensed consumer products.
For alcohol policy advocates, this case underscores the urgency of extending marketing regulations to cover digital platforms, content licensing agreements, and branded merchandise. The WHO best buys for reducing noncommunicable diseases include bans or comprehensive restrictions on alcohol marketing – limitations that must now account for the ways alcohol companies use entertainment partnerships to bypass existing policy solutions.
Sources:
Valor Econômico. “JBS, Unilever, Ambev e Coty investem em produtos licenciados da série Bridgerton da Netflix.” 6 February 2026. https://valor.globo.com/empresas/marketing/noticia/2026/02/06/jbs-unilever-ambev-e-coty-investem-em-produtos-licenciados-da-serie-bridgerton-da-netflix.ghtml
AB InBev. “AB InBev and Netflix Announce Global Brand Partnership.” Press release, 22 September 2025. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250922234597/en/
AB InBev. “An Inside Look at AB InBev’s ‘Beyond Beer’ Portfolio.” AB InBev News Stories. https://www.ab-inbev.com/news-media/news-stories/inside-look-at-ab-in-bevs-beyond-beer-portfolio
AB InBev. “AB InBev Reports Full Year and Fourth Quarter 2025 Results.” Press release, 12 February 2026. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260211688662/en/
Chambers and Partners. “Advertising & Marketing 2025 – Brazil.” Practice Guides. https://practiceguides.chambers.com/practice-guides/advertising-marketing-2025/brazil/trends-and-developments
CNBC. “AB InBev (ABI) earnings Q2 2025.” 31 July 2025. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/07/31/ab-inbev-abi-earnings-q2-2025.html
Mundo do Marketing. “Ambev traz ao Brasil marca Brutal Fruit Spritzer.” 14 May 2024. https://mundodomarketing.com.br/ambev-traz-ao-brasil-marca-brutal-fruit-spritzer
Nielsen / Parrot Analytics, via TheWrap. “How Bridgerton and The Boys Grew Their Audience With Spin-Offs.” 18 June 2024. https://www.thewrap.com/how-bridgerton-the-boys-spinoffs-grow-audience/
Sullivan & Cromwell. “S&C Advises AB InBev in Strategic Partnership with Netflix.” September 2025. https://www.sullcrom.com/About/News-and-Events/Highlights/2025/September/SC-Advises-AB-InBev-Strategic-Partnership-Netflix