New Coors Packaging Whets Appetites of Football Fans

SACRAMENTO, CA—Limited-edition "pigskin" bottles and cans should have Northern California armchair quarterbacks reaching for Coors beer this football season.

Coors Brewing Co., noted for innovative packaging, will offer adult football fans in this part of the country the opportunity to enjoy Coors Light and Original Coors beers in special, promotional packaging for a limited time only.

Original Coors' 16 and 24 oz "pigskin" cans, produced in-house by Coors, carry graphics that have the color and look of a football's pebble-grained leather along with its distinctive lacing. The combination creates an instant, eye-catching look designed to capture the attention of football fans during the upcoming season. The cans are currently on-shelf at most convenient store locations in the Sacramento area. A 12 oz version of the can will become available nationwide the week of September 14.

Also in September, Coors Light and Original Coors 12 oz longneck "pigskin" bottles will appear primarily at on-premise retail accounts. Molded directly into the bottle's glass are the leather-like grain and stitching found on a football. In addition, the bottles, supplied by Owens-Brockway (Atlanta) feature unique pressure-sensitive labels that provide laser-sharp graphics which appear as if they were painted on the bottles. In place of each brand's traditional label graphics, the "pigskin" bottles have a bold rendering of each brand's name scripted above a large, highly visual football. The labels are produced by Spear, Inc. (Mason, Ohio).

As part of a fully integrated approach, Coors is also featuring bold football graphics on Coors Light and Original Coors secondary packaging. The football packaging theme links to the brewer's Labor Day consumer promotion and sweepstakes—the Coors Light "Win Tickets to the College National Football Championship Game." Sweepstakes winners will score a trip for two to the inaugural bowl game that determine which college football team is the undisputed national champion.

This is not the first time Coors has come up with highly unique packaging. The company has garnered three consecutive Clear Choice Awards from the Glass Packaging Institute. Coors special packages that have captivated consumers in recent years include the Coors Bat Bottle, Ropin' Bottle, Big Bat Can Series and Racing Block.