Dear Client:

“Fighting a revolutionary war can be … sucky. But do you know how George Washington kept his troops motivated? He made sure his troops had beer,” says actor Paul Giamatti in the latest Coors Light spots, over a series of historical pictures. (True story). 

The Great Depression was “pretty sucky too,” says Paul. That brought on the end to Prohibition, which “maybe didn’t solve anything” but “did help them press on.”

Fast forward to today: “Sucky suck suck suckiness of historical proportions … We know this won’t fix it, but how ’bout some beer?”

It’s a populist, we’re-all-in-this-together take, featuring stills of “regular folk” like Olive Veronesi, the 93-year-old whose pleas for more Coors Light earlier this month went viral [see BBD 04-14-2020] . 

The new Coors Light creative is anchored by an online giveaway: Folks can tweet to @coorslight with the #CouldUseABeer tag to tell the company who they should buy a six pack. 

The new creative features a 15-second TV spot, which will air on prime-time TV, and a longer 45-second digital piece.

“The #CouldUseABeer program conveys a simple message,” per Molson Coors. “We know beer can’t fix the current state of the world, but history has shown that taking time to pause with a cold one can refresh us to keep pressing on.”

MSJ: “THIS IS NOT A NEW CAMPAIGN.” We had some questions, like: Is this a follow up campaign to last summer’s marquee “Made to Chill” messaging? And is there a limit to how many beers Molson Coors will buy people?

First, CMO Michelle St. Jacques stressed: “This is not a new campaign – we have seen the power of ‘Made to Chill’ and positioning Coors Light as the simple antidote to an always on world,” she told BBD. “And the results followed, with the brand growing share and improving sales since the campaign launch.”

Indeed, the brand has continued to run existing (though subtly tweaked for the times) “Made to Chill” creative across TV, social and more. This is just some evolved programming. 

“The reality is the campaign has never been more relevant than it is right now. People need a moment now more than ever. We have shifted our creative during this time to be around the space of #TakeTimeToChill …

“This particular idea was born from that same brand purpose – to refresh people’s spirit – but was inspired by what happened with Olive last week, the 93-year old beer lover whose request for Coors Light, and our subsequent beer delivery, caught a lot of attention. We saw that there was a genuine opportunity for us to do something authentic to the role that beer is playing in people’s lives right now – in a way that would hopefully make people smile.”

But for those wondering — yes, there’s a limit to how many beers the brand will buy: “We are providing more than 500,000 free beers, which amounts to more than 83,000 six-packs and $1,000,000 of beer,” per company.

It’s been a buzzy year for the brand, which besides launching the successful “Made to Chill” campaign also got some virtual traction via stars from the Jonas Brothers to Patrick Mahomes and more. Let’s see how this one lands. 

Thoughts? Ping [email protected]. 

Until tomorrow,

Harry, Jenn and Jordan

“However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.” – Sir Winston Churchill

———- Sell Day Calendar ———-

Today’s Sell Day: 20

Sell days this month: 22

Sell days this month last year: 22

This month ends on a: Thurs.

This month last year ended on a: Tues.

YTD sell days Over/Under:  +1