Heineken Made a Phone Case That Bullies You Into Being Social — And It’s Brilliant
Robotic phone case flips your screen when someone says “cheers.”
You know that moment on a night out where everyone's cheers-ing, the music’s thumping, and someone’s… checking Instagram? Classic phubbing — phone snubbing your mates.
Heineken’s had enough.
So, they made The Flipper — a ridiculous little gadget that gives your phone a gentle slap every time someone says “cheers.” No, really. It’s a robotic arm attached to a phone case that literally flips your phone face down the moment it hears the trigger word.
It’s not subtle. It’s not elegant. But that’s kinda the point.
They teamed up with Simone Giertz (aka the Queen of Useless Robots — though her stuff’s secretly genius) to give it a go. Her take? She’s tried every willpower trick in the book to stay off her phone during social time.
Didn’t work. But this goofy gadget? Might actually help. And it’s a hell of a lot more fun than shaming yourself.
This isn’t Heineken’s first go at tackling digital distractions with a laugh. You might remember The Boring Phone — a low-tech flip phone they dropped with Bodega last year that had no apps, no scroll, no doom. Just calls, texts, and vibes.
And then there was The Closer, a bottle opener that shut down your work apps when you cracked open a cold one. No Slack. No emails. Just beer.
With The Flipper, Heineken’s still pushing the same message: put your phone down and actually be where you are. Talk to your mates. Dance. Be weird. Laugh at bad jokes in real time.
The tech’s tongue-in-cheek, but the idea hits home. You can’t make memories while you’re staring at your screen.
No word yet on whether The Flipper will be available to buy or just stay as a fun promo bit, but honestly? Might be worth strapping one to every table at the pub.
