beer: Guinness’ ad and Coors’ fad?
Ah, the things you see while watching live television. I’d sort of forgotten about St. Patrick’s Day this weekend since I’m not really a bar crawler and while there may be some Irish blood in me, it’s fairly well diluted. If I hadn’t seen this spot, I’d have been completely caught off guard trying to go out this weekend. Coincidentally, being taken by surprise is the theme behind Guinness’ ad for their new Black Lager…
I suppose if they ever tried to market to the queer community, they could save this ad template and relocate it from a Saint Patty’s Day parade to the Folsom Street Fair? A kilt is a kilt, after all, whether tartan wool, khaki or leather.
Meanwhile, Molson Coors is trying to appeal to the cocktail-drinking club-goer by introducing an iced-tea flavored beer. That’s right, iced-tea. I’m not sure if this will be similar to other “alcopop” flavored malt beverages like Smirnoff Ice, Mike’s Hard Lemonade or the O.G. of alcopop: Zima, but from the initial announcement it isn’t filling me with confidence and I have given many a bottled “non-beer” beverage a try when hard liquor wasn’t available.
“Someone else is eating our lunch in the alcohol space,” Molson Coors Chief Executive Peter Swinburn said at the meeting, which was broadcast over the Internet.
Coors Light Iced T will go on sale first in Canada, where consumers are interested in flavored beers and other refreshing drinks, Molson executives said.
I had no idea Canadians were so… well-rounded? If it’s a hit in Canada, the plan is to bring it to the states, probably marketed as a refreshing summer beverage. Which sort of shows that alcohol companies believe their consumers have short memories1 since back in 2006, Smirnoff hit the market with Raw Tea, even going a wee bit viral2 with their “Tea Partay” video.
And thanks to friend Kevin Hamm3, I won’t be able to even think of the new product without giggling. I already abbreviate Long Island Iced Teas as LIIT for brevity…
In the Department of You Can’t Make This Up: How about a frosty C.L.I.T.? That’s Coors Light Iced T, folks! thestar.com/business/artic…
— kev~! (@kevhamm) March 12, 2012
I apologize for his language… so uncouth. But since the name of the new drink has now been ruined for me, I just had to share. 
1 We prefer calling them mini-blackouts.
2 Over 6 million hits as of this morning.
3 The genius podcaster behind PoliticktickBOOM.
