Dive Brief:

• Coors Light this week started a campaign to induct Tom "The Iceman" Flores, the first Latino who was both a starting quarterback and head coach in the NFL, into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Describing Flores as a "noted Coors Light drinker," the beer brand is asking fans to pledge their support in an online petition, per an announcement.
• As part of the campaign, Coors Light is running 30-second spots in English and Spanish on national TV, and is selling limited-edition cans showing a picture of Flores. The brand is offering rebates on as many as 30,000 beers as an incentive to sign the online petition by Feb. 6, when the Hall of Fame will vote on this year's inductees. That day, Coors Light will show a list of petitioners on a mobile billboard in Canton, Ohio, where the Hall of Fame is located.
• The campaign's microsite has an "Iceman Can locator" to help fans in the Las Vegas area find the commemorative cans in stores, or to order them for home delivery. Coors Light, which is marketed by Molson Coors Beverage, is supporting the effort with paid, owned and organic media placements, a social influencer campaign and other publicity efforts, per the announcement.

Dive Insight:

Coors Light's omnichannel campaign to support Tom Flores' induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame is part of the brand's effort to promote inclusion and diversity. The yearly Pro Football Hall of Fame vote typically generates major publicity in sports news, and Coors Light can participate in that with the campaign. Flores is a good fit for Coors Light as a fan of the beer, and his nickname as "The Iceman" is well suited for its brand image as cold beer originally brewed in the Rocky Mountains.

The campaign is consistent with a strategy that parent company Molson Coors developed amid the disruptions of the pandemic. That strategy focuses on five tenets: committing to action, doing something, finding trusted partners, moving forward and doubling down on creativity. By supporting diversity and inclusion with its call for Flores to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, Coors Light is demonstrating its efforts to recognize the contribution of ethnic groups to U.S. society. The message is most likely to resonate among a younger, more multiethnic generation that the brand seeks to cultivate as long-term customers.

"With few Latino players currently in the hall, we believe The Iceman deserves to be recognized for being an outstanding player and coach who broke barriers for other Latino athletes," Marcelo Pascoa, global vice president of marketing for Coors Light. "We hope this platform helps Flores inspire even more people than he already has."

Coors Light's effort comes as beer brands shift from their holiday-themed campaigns to the publicity associated with next month's Super Bowl. The brand closed out 2020 with an offbeat campaign featuring the "Beerman," an imperfect snowman who was ready to let loose during the holidays after a stressful year. Coors Light's other efforts last year included a contest that gave fans a chance to win a vacation to the travel destinations they had used as video chat backgrounds during the pandemic, and its #CouldUseABeer effort that gave away as much as $1 million in beer to help lift morale of Americans in lockdown.

Coors Light's off-premise sales grew 6% in Q3, making it a strong performer for Molson Coors. The company's revenue fell 3.1% to $2.75 billion in Q3 from a year earlier as many restaurants and bars closed or operated at limited capacity. The sales decline marked an improvement from the 15% drop a quarter earlier, when pandemic lockdowns were broader. Molson Coors may report Q4 results on Feb. 10, though it hasn't confirmed the date yet.