Screw the Special Editions! These 2003 commercials for Cerveza Cristal are Star Wars' most engaging post-release edits.
Fans have long argued about George Lucas' edits to the original Star Wars trilogy. Everything from adding clutter to making Han shoot off beat has been critically analysed. These fantastic moments of product placement, so Chlean Star Wars didn't have to be stopped for commercials when broadcast on TV, however are beyond reproach. Except for George Lucas, who is reported to have sued in 2004.
During the December 2003 broadcasts of several Star Wars films, viewers were treated to an unconventional advertising strategy by channel 13 in collaboration with Cerveza Cristal, one of Chile's most popular beer brands. Instead of traditional ad breaks, the channel inserted 30-second commercials directly into the movies. These ads were crafted to appear as continuations of the scenes they interrupted, integrating them so smoothly that they seemed to be part of the original films. One ad featured Obi-Wan Kenobi opening a chest to reveal a stash of Cerveza Cristal, complete with rock music and the brand's logo, while another showed Emperor Palpatine pulling out a beer bottle instead of a lightsaber.
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The discovery of these edits has elicited laughter and surprise among the Star Wars community, with some fans expressing a newfound interest in watching these uniquely altered versions of the films. This incident, however, was not taken lightly by Star Wars creator George Lucas. In 2004, Lucas filed a grievance with the Chilean Council for Self-Regulation and Advertising Ethics, leading to a judgment in Lucas Films' favor. The council decreed that the commercials were not to be aired again. Despite this ruling, the channel and Cerveza Cristal partnered once more in 2004, embedding the beer into scenes from other popular movies like American Beauty, Notting Hill, and Gladiator.
