The owners of Maverick, a small bar in Monterrey, Mexico, discovered their business had been abandoned when the pandemic hit. As a result, Oscar Romo and René Cárdenas adapted to a new trend that many bars have embraced to keep their workers afloat: delivery cocktails. But that is not what the bar is all about. When Oscar first opened the bar, he came up with a line. The bar’s marketing partner, Cárdenas, said it was named Maverick, which means “meeting spot” in Spanish. It’s a place where you can make new friends. That’s how they came up with the idea for I Miss My Bar, a free, interactive website that launched in June 2020 to bring Maverick’s locked-down delivery customers’ atmosphere into their homes. What is the key to these strategies? Sound.

The landing page of I Miss My Bar provides users with a range of auditory options for recreating the experience of going out for a drink, such as “bartender working,” “people talking,” and “street ambiance.” Some of the sounds, such as the voice of a specific man selling bread on the street, are only recognizable to Monterrey residents. Sound has a unique way of embracing pre-pandemic life and post-pandemic hope, as well as helping people feel less lonely, according to the owners of the various websites.