May 20, 2008 6:05 AM, PROMO Xtra, By Brian Quinton

Depending on what reference you source, there are either more bikes in Holland than people (16 million) or exactly as many (13 million). In any case, the Dutch are definitely a two-wheeled culture. Even the Dutch royal family has taken to pedaling their offspring around by bike regularly.

So it made sense that Amstel Light would incorporate a bicycle giveaway into the mock “Dutch Takeover” of New York City last Thursday to activate this summer’s new integrated Amstel Light campaign, “One Dam Good Bier.” The pretext: an alleged loophole in the 1664 contract transferring ownership of the city from the Dutch empire to the English.

The takeover involved sending a 10-seater “Beer Bike” traveling up and down Amsterdam Avenue on the Upper West Side of New York, the city once known, of course, as New Amsterdam. These pedal-powered pubs on wheels are a common sight in Amsterdam. Bars along the bike’s Manhattan route featured “Dutch Treat” Amstel Light drink specials advertised on coasters and table tents.

The New York promotion, mounted in partnership with agency I Amsterdam, also featured a bike-themed promotion that gave away 150 bicycles on a first-come, first served basis between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. Bike recipients were given arm bracelets and moved to a special holding area to minimize the risk of disruptions that street giveaways can cause, especially in New York.

The “Dam Good Bier” campaign will also offer a summer-long sweepstakes with a grand prize of round-trip tickets to Amsterdam, offered in conjunction with agency metro New York and Northwest Airlines/ KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.

Amstel Light will bring a small touch of Amsterdam to other U.S. cities this July and August with the “Amstel Light Lounge 1870,” a pop-up bar that replicates good-time elements found in traditional Dutch pubs of the late 1800s, when Amstel was first brewed in the Netherlands. The lounges will appear in Boston, Chicago, Baltimore, Miami, San Francisco and Washington D.C.

Other elements will include on- and off-premise sampling. The campaign will be supported by print, out-of-home and television ads that reinforce the brand’s connection to both the long-time Dutch brewing tradition and the spontaneous party spirit of today’s Amsterdam.

Visitors to the Web site www.amstellight.com will be able to get a closer look at Amsterdam by viewing the three TV spots for the campaign and will also be able to download branded wallpapers and screensavers and to sign up for e-mail alerts on future promotions. Ringtones are reportedly also in the cards for the site.

The new “Dam Good Bier” campaign for Amstel Light was created by ad agency The Richards Group, which took over the account from Publicis this year. Under its former agency, Amstel tried to position itself as a cultivated import with advice about food pairings. This new effort reaches for a younger demographic than the 30-to-35 age group, with ads in magazines such as Spin and Maxim and TV buys during “Lost.”

A pre-takeover post in the popular New York “Gothamist” blog brings up the point that perhaps linking beer to getting out into traffic on a bicycle is the “best worst idea ever.

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