They say you’re most proud of home when you’re somewhere else. And in May of 2013, Molson Canadian set out to prove it. We designed and built a custom-made beer fridge, filled it with Molson Canadian and took it across Europe. But the fridge was locked. The only way to open it was with an actual Canadian passport.

For 10 days, we travelled the fridge across northern Europe, stopping in England, France, and Belgium – in search of Canadians, ready to surprise them with a taste of home, and letting them share a piece of Canada with the rest of the world.

In July, we released a online film documenting the journey of the fridge. In just four days after the release, The Beer Fridge had over one million views on YouTube and received 4 million impressions on twitter alone. It received worldwide media attention, featuring in such publications as Mashable, Gizmodo, ABC News, Fast Company, and PSFK to name a few. In addition to the film a series of behind the scenes videos and images were created, and the fridge itself became a traveling icon, featuring at Molson Canadian events both in Canada and abroad – including the 2014 NHL Winter Classic in Ann Arbor Michigan.

Of course, there were challenges along the way. The biggest hurdle was to find a way to keep the fridge operational throughout the journey and keep the beer cold even in the pouring rain of Northern France.

In terms of functionality, when a passport was inserted, a modified web cam took a picture of it. Then, using image recognition technology, a computer looked for distinct features of a Canadian passport. If the computer recognized the key distinct features of a Canadian passport, it triggered the release of an electromagnet, popping open the fridge door. The fridge was also wireless. Two fully charged batteries charged both the passport scanner and the fridge itself – so no matter where we set it up, when opened, the fridge kept our beer perfectly chilled.