Coors Light’s Tagline Typo Is Super Bowl Marketing Mischief

Mondays are the worst, aren’t they? Well, beer brand Coors Light certainly seems to think so. And across the litany of Mondays in a year, they’ve highlighted the Monday after the Super Bowl as the worst of the lot. For our non-American readers, that’s February 10th this year. 

After a recent Talker Research survey revealed that 60% of Americans and Canadians catch a ‘case of the Mondays’ following the big game, Coors Light – famous for their ‘cases’ of beer – got to work on capitalising on this statistic, with creative agency Mischief @ No Fixed Address.

“We’ve worked with Mischief on previous Coors Light campaigns, including all three of our Patrick Mahomes campaigns,” says Coors’ VP of marketing, Marcelo Pascoa. “We have a great creative partnership, and we are excited to be working with them on our Big Game spot.”  

This means that, as well as the teasers and weeks of build-up to the game of games, Mischief is the creative mind behind the brand’s 30-second ad that will air during the match. But to tap into the ‘Case of the Mondays’ idea in the meantime, Coors Light and Mischief have created a customised 12-pack case of beers, making a literal ‘Case of the Mondays’. The beers, which will don limited edition ‘Mondays Light’ branding, will be available nationwide for purchase and up for grabs in a sweepstakes. 

“Our campaign taps into a genuine insight – the all-too-real ‘post-game’ feeling that fans often have the Monday after the national football championship,” says Marcelo. “We were excited to offer a new way to ‘Choose Chill’ through our limited-time Mondays Light packaging, providing a case of mountain cold refreshment for those experiencing their very own case of the Mondays." 

It’s the third year in a row that the brewer has returned to the Super Bowl, and anticipation has already started to build following a deliberately misspelt OOH and print campaign that has caught the eyes of the world.

The typo ‘Mountain Cold Refershment’ appeared on a digital screen in Times Square, as well as in print ads, leading to a flurry of social posts from the bemused public. The company subsequently thanked the fans for pointing out the mistake in a statement on social media, saying: “Coors Light wants to thank everyone for letting us know about the errors. Very chill of you. Mondays, am I right?”

“We wanted to lean into humour with an ‘oopsie’ moment to show America that we get it – having a ‘case of the Mondays’ is a real thing. The social response has been incredible, further highlighting the love for this campaign,” says Marcelo. “Consumers quickly picked up on and engaged with the botched ads. By the time we revealed the connection to 'Case of the Mondays' in the days that followed, the momentum was already building, and it continued to spark conversations, shares and positive reactions across platforms.” 

While this cleverly engineered ‘slip-up’ seems to have captured attention well in advance of the Super Bowl, the ad space and commercial conversations in the days and weeks around the annual event remain a fierce battlefield for brands. This fight for fans’ eyeballs has been particularly important for brewing companies as of late, after AB InBev lost its exclusive rights to advertise beer during the Super Bowl in 2022, having kept other brands out of the Big Game for 33 years. 

As such, Marcelo says that differentiating from the rest in 2024 and competing for attention is about more than just ads. “It's about creating moments that leave a lasting impression. Our approach goes beyond a TV spot to offer a multi-touchpoint experience that engages fans with humour and sparks conversations that extend well past game day.

“We see this as an exciting chance to be part of one of the biggest stages in sports and entertainment, where numerous brands come together to create unforgettable moments. 'Case of the Mondays' isn’t confined to a single ad slot; it's a creative concept that unfolds before, during and after the game.”