There are moments when a beer brand's marketing so thoroughly embraces a certain idea of America that one half-expects a bald eagle to swoop through the frame and land on a pickup truck. Keystone Light, the Molson Coors brand that has long positioned itself as the economical choice for drinkers who find Coors Light a bit too expensive, appears to have had such a moment.
The brand is introducing an apple-flavored variety, and the campaign surrounding it leans rather heavily into what might be called heartland iconography. The effort is being described, not inaccurately, as a ludicrous display of Americana — though whether the ludicrousness is intentional or simply inevitable when a light beer attempts to associate itself with orchards and authenticity is a question the campaign does not pause to answer.
(One suspects it does not need to.)
Keystone Light has been part of the Molson Coors portfolio for decades, occupying a particular niche: the beer you buy when you need a great deal of beer and do not wish to spend a great deal of money. The apple extension represents an attempt to give the brand something to talk about beyond its price point, a challenge that has occupied the marketing departments of value-tier beers for as long as there have been value-tier beers.
The campaign arrives at a moment when flavored beers and malt beverages continue to crowd cooler shelves, competing for the attention of drinkers who might otherwise reach for a hard seltzer or a ready-to-drink cocktail. Whether wrapping an apple beer in enough red, white and blue imagery to furnish a Fourth of July parade will prove sufficient to distinguish it from the competition remains to be seen.
Then again, Keystone Light has never been a brand that aimed for subtlety. It appears to have found, in apples and Americana, two things it can be unsubtle about together.
Original story published in adage.com: "Keystone Light launches apple beer with a ludicrous display of Americana - Ad Age"