Coors Light & Miller Lite’s Fight for Molson Coors’ Super Bowl Spot

Molson Coors has been locked out of Super Bowl advertising since 1989, when Anheuser-Busch bought exclusive beer advertising rights for the big game. This year, the company has to decide which of its brands to feature in the single 30-second spot; Coors Light, their top-selling beer in the U.S. and the number two in the industry overall, and Miller Lite, which has picked up share in the total beer industry for the year and grown its NFL alliances this season.

Molson Coors has chosen to get back into the Super Bowl after not having a presence for over 30 years due to Anheuser-Busch exclusivity. They had difficulty deciding which of their brands should get the 30-second spot, as both Coors Light and Miller Lite have clear cases for the prime advertising real estate. Coors Light, is their top-selling beer in the U.S. and the number two in the industry overall, and Miller Lite, which has picked up share in the total beer industry for the year and grown its NFL alliances this season.

To settle the matter, Molson Coors is kicking off a battle for the spot with billboards in Golden, Colo., and Milwaukee, as well as on social and digital media. Chief Marketing Officer Michelle St. Jacques has promised a spot that will be “full of firsts” and that they have the credibility to make it on the big stage.

She views the opportunity to get back in the Super Bowl as not only an opportunity for whichever brand is featured, but as a point of pride for Molson Coors and its network of distributors. “We’ve done the work. We’ve built the credibility that gives us the right to be on the big stage. Our brands are the healthiest they’ve been in years,” she says. “Our job in marketing is to get people excited about our products. If the amazing number of displays I’ve seen over the past week are any indication of the excitement in our network, I think it’s safe to say people are really pumped.” As for the ad itself, St. Jacques says she’s received an endless stream of questions and prodding from distributors, employees and even Molson Coors leadership and board members who all want to know her team’s plan for Feb. 12, which she’s kept shrouded in secrecy. The inquiries are so frequent she’s come up with a pithy response: “Well, if I told you, it wouldn’t be any fun, would it?”