Dive Brief:

• Coors Light is releasing limited-edition Mondays Light packaging — a play on the idiom “a case of the Mondays” — nationwide in advance of the Super Bowl, per a press release.
• The packaging play follows Coors Light on Monday (Jan. 13) debuting a series of ads that misspelled “refreshment” as “refershment” in a nod to Monday morning mishaps. The brewer will also run an Instagram sweepstakes for a chance at free beer.
• The campaign anticipating a Super Bowl spot was informed by research that found 41% of respondents call the Monday after the big game one of the worst days of the year.

Dive Insight:

Coors Light is turning “a case of the Mondays” into an actual case of beer, just in time for one of the most difficult Mondays of the year, at least for football fans (and journalists who cover the big game). The phrase was popularized by the 1999 cult classic “Office Space” in another reminder of how Y2K nostalgia remains a key part of marketers’ playbooks. 

The announcement of Mondays Light follows the brand’s own Monday mishap: the release of several print and out-of-home advertisements that misspelled “refreshment" as "refershment.” Coors Light issued an apology for the error earlier this week, continuing the build up to its forthcoming Super Bowl blitz. The ad and surrounding campaign are handled by agency Mischief @ No Fixed Address.

“Everyone knows the day after the Super Bowl is the crustiest Monday of the year. So we wanted to turn a bad case of the Mondays into a much better case of the Mondays, with an idea first-approach to a big game ad,” said Kevin Mulroy, executive creative director and partner at Mischief, in a statement. “That allowed us to create a huge surrounding program that sparks cultural moments before, during, and after the game.”

A survey conducted by Talker Research on behalf of Coors Light found the Monday after the Super Bowl to be one of the most dreaded workdays of the year, whether because of staying up late the night before (50%), returning to work after a great game (46%) or because the game means the end of the NFL season (36%). Naturally, many people — including Coors’ target audience — imbibe on Super Bowl Sunday, which can have its own after effects.

To further build engagement, Coors Light will run an Instagram sweepstakes ahead of the big game. Consumers who follow the brand, post an in-feed image of themselves drinking Coors Light after the brand’s Super Bowl ad, tag the brand and include special hashtags will have a chance to win a $14 payment good for a 12-pack of Coors Light.

This year marks Coors Light’s third Super Bowl in a row and second in a row in Canada, where it will run a 30-second spot for both English and French-Canadian audiences. Also developed by Mischief, the spot will air on CTV, TSN and RDS broadcasts in Canada. Droga5 was behind its Super Bowl push last year.