[Photos] Ground 0.0 Proved That Padel Is Really Just a Very Good Excuse to Hang Out

Heineken® 0.0 and Malaysian lifestyle label Motherchuckers have launched Ground 0.0, a limited-edition athleisure collection built around padel culture. The campaign is less about clothing and more about a calculated cultural bet — that non-alcoholic beer has finally found its natural social habitat.

Fernando Fong

In Brief

Heineken® 0.0 partnered with Motherchuckers to launch Ground 0.0, a limited-edition athleisure collection built around padel culture.
The launch event at City Padel, KL, featured exhibition matches, beginner sessions, DJ sets, and a One-Point Challenge.
Heineken® 0.0 positioned itself as the drink for social moments, no alcohol, no awkward explanations, no orange juice required.

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There’s a sport taking over Malaysian weekends, and it doesn’t look like any sport you grew up watching.

Padel courts are small, glassed-in, and loud.

You can see everything — the rallies, the arguments, the laughter between points.

When the match ends, nobody really leaves.

They just move from the court to the nearest table, still in their kit, still talking.

The game is almost beside the point, and that social logic is exactly why Heineken came knocking.

The game ends. Nobody leaves. Ground 0.0 launch night at City Padel, Kuala Lumpur — where Heineken® 0.0 made its case that the best part of padel happens off the court. (Pix: Fernando Fong)

Zero alcohol, zero explanation, zero reasons needed. Guests at the Ground 0.0 launch raise a Heineken® 0.0 at City Padel, KL — exactly the kind of moment the campaign was built for. (Pix: Fernando Fong)

Fast, expressive, and inherently social — a player in action during the Ground 0.0 launch at City Padel, KL. Padel found its drink. It just happens to be a beer without the beer. (Pix: Fernando Fong)

The view from the other side. Heineken® 0.0’s co-branded padel paddle at the Ground 0.0 launch — where the branding was built into the game, not just around it. (Pix: Fernando Fong)

The Pitch Beneath the Pitch

Recently, Heineken® 0.0 — the brand’s non-alcoholic line — teamed up with Motherchuckers, the Malaysian lifestyle label founded by Jane Chuck, to launch Ground 0.0: a limited-edition athleisure collection built around the padel aesthetic. Think court-ready cuts that don’t look out of place at brunch.

On-court performance, off-court credibility.

The launch event leaned into the sport’s inherently social format — an exhibition match, a crash course for beginners, DJ sets, and a One-Point Challenge, with winners walking away with pieces from the collection.

It was less a product launch and more an organised hangout with a dress code.

What Heineken is really selling here isn’t clothing, and it isn’t even beer.

It’s permission.

Eyes on the ball, everything else a blur. The exhibition match at the Ground 0.0 launch at City Padel, KL — fast, expressive, and exactly the kind of energy Heineken® 0.0 showed up for. (Pix: Fernando Fong)

Court-ready and camera-ready. The Ground 0.0 launch brought padel culture off the court and into the room — Heineken® 0.0 in hand, zero reasons needed. (Pix: Fernando Fong)

The bracket doesn’t lie. A competitor points to her name on the One-Point Challenge draw at the Ground 0.0 launch — where the only thing more competitive than the padel was the guest list. (Pix: Fernando Fong)

Sport Found the Brand, Not the Other Way Around

Heineken® 0.0 has spent the last few years trying to carve out a specific cultural position: the drink you reach for when you want to be present at a social moment without the alcohol, without the explanation, and without being handed a glass of orange juice by a well-meaning host.

Padel — fast, expressive, and built around conversation as much as competition — is a smarter vehicle for that message than most.

The courts have become social spaces in their own right. Heineken didn’t create that culture.

They just showed up to it with a cooler.

Sean O’Donnell, Marketing Director of HEINEKEN Malaysia, put it plainly.

Padel reflects that shift in modern sport. It’s fast, expressive, and inherently social, which makes it a natural space for Heineken® 0.0.

The organised hangout with a dress code. The full Ground 0.0 crew at City Padel, KL — cans up, paddles out, and zero reasons needed. (Pix: Fernando Fong)

Court-ready cuts that don’t look out of place anywhere else. Models and guests in the Ground 0.0 collection — Motherchuckers’ answer to what padel culture actually wears off the court. (Pix: Fernando Fong)

Between points, between conversations — a Heineken® 0.0 sits ready at the Ground 0.0 launch at City Padel, KL. No alcohol. No explanation. No orange juice from a well-meaning host. (Pix: Fernando Fong)

Ground 0.0 is available now at Motherchuckers online and in-store, for as long as it lasts. Heineken® 0.0 and all related events are strictly for non-Muslims aged 21 and above.

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