Who Will Be at the Super Bowl? Miller Lite or Coors Light?

Super Bowl LVII will take place on February 12th at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona - and it’s not just the teams currently battling in the NFL playoffs that are competing for their place at the event. After it was reported in June 2022 that Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) would be relinquishing its Super Bowl alcohol sponsorship exclusivity after more than 30 years, speculation arose around which alcohol brands would step up to score a marketing touchdown at one of the biggest advertising opportunities of the year.

One of the first alcohol brands - along with Remy Martin and Diageo’s Crown Royal Whiskey - to announce they will be donning a jersey, putting on a helmet and running interference at this year’s Super Bowl is Molson Coors. Now that AB InBev’s exclusivity is off the table, the brewing company, known for its beverages including Coors, Miller, Peroni, Foster’s, Molson Canadian and more, has decided to purchase a spot at the game of games - created in partnership with Droga5.

Speaking to LBB, Molson Coors’ senior director of communications and corporate affairs, Rachel Dickens said, “The decision to buy this Super Bowl spot took less than a minute. When it came time to decide which brand to feature, things became (and remain) more complicated.”

The company is leaving the true identity of the campaign’s featured brand a mystery for now, and has teased a competition in the New York Times between two of its flagship brands - Miller Lite and Coors Light - to decide which one will get the honour.

The print ad in the New York Times reads:

“After thirty years, Miller Lite and Coors Light have announced they are returning to the Big Game. The catch? Molson Coors, the beverage company that owns both brands, will ultimately only give one brand claim of the ad…

With both Miller Lite and Coors Light claiming ownership of the campaign, we are left to speculate which brand will finally make its way back to the Big Game. Will this be a Miller Lite ad? Or a Coors Light ad? Who will prevail?

We’ll have to wait until February 12 to find out.”

Rachel added, “We’re not saying much right now about how this will all turn out, but you can expect our eventual ad to include several ‘firsts’ for both Molson Coors specifically, and for Super Bowl advertising generally.”

In this teaser campaign, both brands have laid claim to the 30 seconds of airtime during the Super Bowl, taking the feud beyond just the pages of The Times. Billboards have also become the field of play in the early quarters of this dispute, located strategically in Golden, Colorado, and Milwaukee, the birthplaces of Coors and Miller, respectively - as well as in digital placements and through organic banter between the two on social media.

With over 100 million average viewers watching the Super Bowl each year, the stakes couldn’t be higher for either brand in this intense (but obviously manufactured) rivalry. In a statement earlier today, Molson Coors’ chief marketing officer, Michelle St. Jacques said, “It’s not just that Molson Coors hasn’t been in the Big Game in 30 years. Neither have Miller Lite or Coors Light. And when you look at the momentum we have with our premium lights right now, there’s a really good argument for either one to be featured in the Super Bowl.” 

Hoping to capitalise on the non-traditional Super Bowl marketing that the Molson Coors brands produced while they were excluded from directly purchasing TV spots, Michele said that they are in the healthiest position they’ve been in for a while and are looking to take ‘a big swing’ now that they are back on the grandest stage of them all. “We’ve done the work. We’ve built the credibility that gives us the right to be on the big stage,” she said. “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.”

So, who will emerge the victor and be the star of the show in Molson Coors’ Super Bowl LVII spot - Coors Light, or Miller Lite? You’ll have to wait and find out!