As the weather cools down, the beaches empty out and the official first day of fall is approaching, we all know what lies ahead.
Football.
Time for crock pot cooking, hoodies and pumpkin everything. Sundays will be less scary than they used to be and spent more with family and friends around the television, rooting on their favorite teams.
What often goes well with a bowl of spicy chili is an ice cold beer. With more and more beer brands entering the market and major college stadiums now serving beer, you are bound to see even more beer commercials during football games this season. Two popular beer brands in particular have been in recent news, both in regard to their marketing strategies.
During the 2019 Super Bowl, Anheuser-Busch launched its multi-million dollar campaign with three television ads, suggesting that corn syrup is MillerCoors’ final products, rather than used during the brewing process. The campaign continued on to billboards and print ads stating that Bud Light (an Anheuser-Busch beer) has “100% less corn syrup” than Miller Lite and Coors Light. Shortly after the Super Bowl, MillerCoors filed a false advertising lawsuit against Anheuser-Busch, alleging that the ads were false and part of a plot to play on the concerns of some consumers about corn syrup to scare drinkers of Miller Lite and Coors Light into switching over to Bud Light.
The judge allowed Bud Light to continue to use the packaging they had on hand as of June 6, or sell them until March of next year, whichever comes first. The case will go to trial unless a settlement is reached. It’s a battle of the beers. May the odds be ever in (the better beer’s) favor.
Coors Light will be the first-ever beer sponsor for ESPN’s “College Gameday” college football pregame show. A segment of the show will now be known as “Coors Light Saturday Selections.” Coors Light also plans to run commercials during the program. One of the ads plugs Coors Light as “the official beer of Saturday morning.”
The deal comes as beer brands continue to break through barriers related to marketing in and around college campuses, including selling beer in stadiums. Earlier this year, the Southeastern Conference, which operates in the football-obsessed South, lifted its ban on beer and wine sales in the public seating areas of athletic venues. “We really have followed where college football overall has been going,” said Patricia Betron, senior VP of consumer packaged goods and beverages for Disney Advertising Sales. “As they (ESPN) have become more open to beer within the content, within the games, we have followed suit with that.”
Sources:
