Stella Artois has launched its cheeky “Worth The Miss” campaign in South Korea, tying up with Netflix’s hit series Culinary Class Wars Season Two. Leveraging humor, large-scale OOH, and reactive social content, the campaign positions the beer as “worth more” than even the show’s iconic elements, marking AB InBev’s first global Netflix collaboration.
Stella Artois is taking its global “Worth More” ethos to South Korea in an unexpected and playful way, aligning itself with one of the country’s most-watched and widely discussed entertainment phenomena. The iconic Belgian beer brand, through GUT Asia, has launched the “Stella Artois x Netflix Culinary Class Wars” campaign, designed to ride the wave of excitement surrounding the highly anticipated second season of Netflix’s hit series, Culinary Class Wars.
Culinary Class Wars, which made its debut in South Korea at the end of 2024, quickly became a cultural phenomenon. The show, which pits the country’s top culinary talents against one another in high-stakes cooking challenges, captured the imagination of both domestic and global audiences. Its combination of intense competition, theatrical storytelling, and the charisma of its contestants earned it a place as one of the most talked-about series of the year. As fans eagerly awaited Season Two, which premiered in the final quarter of 2025, brands saw an opportunity to tap into the fervor and engagement the show naturally generates. Stella Artois’ approach, however, has been anything but conventional.
Rather than opting for a standard sponsorship, GUT Asia has crafted a campaign that reframes Stella Artois itself as the show’s most intriguing character. Branded under the cheeky banner “Worth The Miss,” the campaign positions Stella Artois as “worth more” than even the show’s most iconic elements—the black spoon and white spoon chefs, the dramatic cooking challenges, and the signature moments that have become memes and fan staples online. This clever positioning speaks to Stella Artois’ broader global messaging while simultaneously leveraging local cultural touchpoints in a witty and engaging way.
The campaign’s timing and execution underscore its ambition. Launching alongside the pre-season hype for Culinary Class Wars Season Two, Stella Artois has unveiled one of its largest out-of-home (OOH) advertising campaigns to date in South Korea. Massive billboards, urban displays, and eye-catching installations across key metropolitan areas serve as the visual entry point for the campaign, creating both anticipation for the show and awareness for the brand. The OOH campaign is complemented by a robust digital strategy, including social media content designed to react in real time to the unfolding episodes over the show’s five-week Netflix run. By blending physical visibility with dynamic online engagement, Stella Artois is seeking to establish a sustained presence that captures the energy of the show’s audience.
Alex Lambrecht, Chief Marketing Officer for East Asia at AB InBev, described the campaign as a natural extension of Stella Artois’ global strategy, remarking, “Culinary Class Wars is one of Korea’s biggest cultural moments. With Worth The Miss, we bring Stella’s ‘Worth More’ spirit to life in a fun and relevant way. This is a strong start to our global partnership with Netflix.” Lambrecht’s comments highlight the strategic importance of this campaign as part of a larger, regionally tailored rollout of AB InBev’s collaboration with Netflix, which is slated to expand to multiple regions and show titles throughout 2026.
From a creative standpoint, the campaign reflects both confidence and cultural fluency. Carlos Camacho, Chief Creative Officer at GUT Asia, explained that the idea behind Worth The Miss was to allow Stella to enter the Korean market with a strong voice. “We wanted Stella to show up in Korea with wit and confidence,” he said. “Playing with the energy of Culinary Class Wars lets us tap into a cultural moment in a bold but simple way—pure Stella.” By integrating the brand into the fabric of the show’s narrative and fan culture, rather than merely presenting itself as an external sponsor, Stella Artois positions itself as part of the conversation, blurring the line between entertainment and brand storytelling.
The campaign’s layered approach is also designed to maximize social engagement. The humor-driven messaging, rooted in the show’s playful rivalries and culinary theatrics, is highly shareable. Social media posts, short-form videos, and reactive content are all programmed to correspond with key episodes and moments, allowing fans to experience Stella Artois as an interactive part of the Culinary Class Wars universe. This dual strategy—capturing attention offline and sustaining engagement online—reflects a growing trend in experiential brand marketing, particularly in markets like South Korea where audiences are digitally savvy and highly connected.
The choice to align with Culinary Class Wars is particularly significant given the show’s cultural footprint. The series has transcended the typical boundaries of reality competition, evolving into a social media sensation where clips, memes, and discussions dominate online platforms. By positioning Stella Artois as the element “worth more” than even the show’s most iconic features, the campaign cleverly plays with fan expectations and encourages both conversation and brand recall. The humor embedded in the campaign ensures that it resonates with younger audiences, who value authenticity, engagement, and cultural relevance in brand communications.
Beyond the local market, this campaign is part of a broader global partnership between AB InBev and Netflix, one of the beverage giant’s most ambitious media collaborations in recent years. While the South Korean launch with Culinary Class Wars serves as an early case study, the strategy is intended to scale across different regions and Netflix properties in 2026, adapting to local viewing habits and cultural contexts while maintaining Stella Artois’ core positioning. In this way, the campaign is both a marketing experiment and a template for future collaborations that aim to integrate brands more seamlessly into entertainment ecosystems.
Industry observers have noted the ingenuity of Stella Artois’ approach. By eschewing traditional sponsorship formats, the brand has managed to turn itself into a talking point, something audiences actively engage with rather than passively consume. The campaign’s use of humor, bold creative positioning, and integrated media strategy reflects a nuanced understanding of how modern audiences interact with both brands and content. It also demonstrates AB InBev’s willingness to innovate, leveraging cultural moments in ways that feel organic and entertaining rather than purely commercial.
For fans of Culinary Class Wars, the campaign adds an additional layer of excitement to an already eagerly awaited season. The interplay between the show’s drama and the brand’s cheeky messaging encourages viewers to engage on multiple fronts, from social media debates about culinary showdowns to playful commentary on Stella Artois’ “worth more” positioning. In doing so, Stella Artois becomes more than a product placement—it becomes a participant in the cultural conversation, an element of the viewing experience in its own right.
As the five-week run of Culinary Class Wars continues on Netflix, Stella Artois’ campaign is set to evolve alongside the show, responding to audience reactions, amplifying trending moments, and reinforcing the brand’s identity in South Korea. The initiative exemplifies the increasingly sophisticated ways in which global brands are integrating into entertainment platforms, using cultural insight, creative agility, and multi-channel strategies to capture attention in crowded media landscapes.
The South Korean launch of the Stella Artois x Netflix Culinary Class Wars campaign represents a milestone in both brand marketing and content partnerships. It signals a new era where traditional sponsorship is replaced by playful, culturally attuned collaborations that resonate with audiences on multiple levels. For Stella Artois, it is a bold affirmation of its “Worth More” positioning, delivered with wit and confidence. For Netflix and its fans, it is an added layer of engagement that enriches the viewing experience and demonstrates how brands and entertainment can intersect in compelling, memorable ways. As AB InBev continues to expand its partnership with Netflix globally, campaigns like Worth The Miss may well define the future of brand collaboration, blending humor, culture, and storytelling into a seamless narrative that captures hearts, minds, and screens alike.
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