Every beer drinker worth his or her suds knows Stella Artois — the Belgian lager served up in gold-rimmed goblets in bars from Brussels to Burbank. But who knew the brand had such incredible tech- and social-media savvy?

First, the app. Stella is calling its Le Bar Guide iPhone app the “first global 3D augmented reality iPhone bar guide.” Using your iPhone’s built-in camera and lacing its feed of the outside world with map directions and signposts, Le Guide directs you to the nearest bars that pour Stella. Once inside, Stella in hand, you can rate the bar within the app, post a message for other users to see and, if you’ve had a few too many, call a cab. It’s both practically useful and highly effective at getting the Stella Artois brand — and bubbles — on the customer’s brain. [Via Fast Company]

Out of left field (or the Left Bank, as the case may be) comes the adventurous beer company’s other new campaign. Resembling the efforts of other brands that have created entire fictional worlds to market their product through entertainment forms (see also White Gold), this is a fully realized viral video campaign that conveys — via oddball humor and chic retro-parody — Stella Artois’ emphasis on ecological responsibility.

Hosted by dapper Alain Du Monde and featuring a go-go Mother Earth who reclines on a hanging sofa, Le Recyclage De Luxe Show mimics a 1960s French variety show, complete with jazzy music, comedy sketches and dancing girls. It was devised by ad group Mother London, which launched a dedicated YouTube channel to add episodes over time. It’s pretty hilarious and appealing, though perhaps too artsy for the average Joe Sixpack. It’s certainly, definitely more interesting than a generic magazine or TV ad or beer sign hanging in the bar window. [Via Creative Review]

This is stuff you can interact with, enjoy and share all on its own merit — and without feeling like the product’s being shoved down your throat. Though in the case of Stella Artois, that may not be a bad thing.