Coors Light heads home

Sometimes, the route to excellence is a process of devolution rather than evolution. A process of jettisoning unnecessary elements to get down to the necessary one.

Over the past few years Coors Light advertising has been running a series of ads loaded with cues aiming to establish itself as “the most refreshing beer in the world.”

There’s a lot here: ice… mountains… frost… cold. But that’s not all of it. There’s a dominating creative conceit in the form of unreal explorer dudes hanging from tether lines, and scuba divers hiding in beer coolers. These dramatic elements were probably included to “add interest to the advertising.” They introduced a strong sense of make-believe. And in so doing, they unintentionally elbowed out something absolutely critical: communication of the brand’s authenticity.

Authenticity has always been a key to effective beer marketing. These days it’s also doubly valued as “the way to the millennials heart,” as Forbes put it. And as for marketing, an Adweek piece quoted a Disney-owned content-creation studio guru’s assertion, “This generation doesn’t dislike brands. What they don’t like is advertising.”

Just as nothing screams “advertising” any louder than faux characters scuba-diving in beer coolers, nothing telegraphs authenticity more powerfully than fact-based distinctiveness. It’s taken Coors Light some time to come to the realization that make-believe dramas and authenticity do not play well together. Better late than never.

In its new “Born in the Rockies” campaign, the Silver Bullet is hammering home its point of distinctiveness, the key aspect of the beer that makes it different from its competition. The star of the ads is the brand’s Rocky Mountain home, and all that goes with it, not least of all cold, clear water. No goofy characters to “have fun” with the premise. The premise is authenticity. No other brand could run this advertising.

Could the ads be improved? Sure. They’re a little dour, the announcer could be more engaging, and it takes too long to get to the brand. But these criticisms are relatively minor. This is very solid advertising, made even better by featuring the updated package graphics that showcase the Rocky Mountain equity.

In a final act of devolution, the advertising also gains from the elimination of the “world’s most refreshing beer” claim. This bit of puffery (the term for a claim so obviously over-the-top and unprovable, it’s legally permissible to use it) only further compromised authenticity. Bombast is for pretenders.

Welcome home, Coors Light.

Now stay put.

To read more of Hey Beer Dan’s work please visit his website: http://www.plzdontletbuddie.com/title-index-to-all-articles.html