#corngate

We have not seen the end of Ab InBev and MillerCoors heated corngate battle, seeing as the battle continues to escalate. Last we heard of the corngate battle, MillerCoors filed a lawsuit against AB InBev calling their ad false and requesting for the ad to be taken down. AB InBev has finally responded, they have rejected MillerCoors call for the ad to be stopped. They are also standing by their ad and the messaging. Describing the ad and its messaging as truthful and accurate.

About CornGate

Corngate started when AB InBev through its brand Bud Light decided to shade MillerCoors Miller Lite and Coors. They released a spot which was set in Bud Light “Dilly Dilly” universe. The spot shows Bud Knight arriving at Miller Lite and Coors castles with a massive barrel of corn syrup. Bud Knight claimed that the corn syrup was mistakenly delivered to the Bud Light castle. In the spot, their rivals confirmed that they brew their beers with corn syrup. This Super Bowl spot ignited corngate and corngate irrupted when MillerCoors responded. To respond to the spot MillerCoors ran a full-page ad in the New York Times to address the spot. Organizations and people from other sectors were also involved in corngate, with VP of National Corn Growers Association sharing a video of himself pouring a Bud Light down the drain

About MillerCoors False Ad Lawsuit

In March MillerCoors filed a lawsuit against AB InBev in the federal court in Wisconsin. The requested for the Bud Light spot to be halted claiming it was false and misleading the public. The suit stated that the ad willfully trademarked dilution and also damaged the brand's reputation. According to MillerCoors AB InBev was confusing consumers by fear mongering them over a common beer ingredient, one that they use in a number of their own beers.

AB InBev Responds to the Lawsuit

In AB InBev’s response to the lawsuit, they rejected the request for Bud Light to take down the ad. They stated that they were telling consumers the simple truth, which was that they don’t include corn syrup as an ingredient in their beers. But Coors Light uses corn syrup as an ingredient and they are describing the statements as transparency. They then pointed out that MillerCoors has previously described corn syrup as an “ingredient” in Coors Light and Miller Lite. AB InBev also referenced the brand’s website which added corn syrup as an ingredient for all its beers. In the filing, AB InBev stated that corn syrup is no less an ingredient of MillerCoors’ beers that are barley and hops. In the suit, they also stated that Bud Light has never disparaged corn syrup or mentioned the word high fructose corn syrup. Instead, they built the campaign around its medieval theme which allowed the brand to communicate the ingredients in a truthful and clear manner. A manner they also described as whimsical and a fantastical way. AB InBev also rebutted claimed that the ads harmed the brand. To help rebut this claim, they cited several public and private comments that MillerCoors exec has made. The comments made by the execs suggest that the battle has actually helped the brand. One of such comments added to the filing includes a text message exchange that occurred during the Super Bowl between Pete Marino, MillerCoors' chief public affairs and communications officer, and Gemma Hart, who was then the VP of communications in the U.S. for AB InBev.

The Text Message

Corngate has been in full swing with MillerCoors Miller Light and AB InBev’s Bud Light continually throwing shots at each other. For the most part of the corn syrup war, MillerCoors Coors Light has been sitting quietly in the sidelines. But it looks like Coors Light has finally taken centre stage and has decided to take on Bud Light. Unlike its sister brand, Coor Lights decided to take another approach to take on Bud Light. The beer brands latest marketing innovation takes every negative thing Bud Light has to say about their brand and turns it into a treat for its consumer. Their marketing innovation which they are calling the smart tap dispenser is a great way to get the attention of their consumers.

About the Corn Syrup War

The corn syrup war or corngate as it is popularly known started when AB InBev's Bud Light decided to shade at MillerCoors Miller Lite and Coors Light with its Super Bowl spot. The Super Bowl spot shows Bud Knight arriving at the Miller Lite and Coors Light castles with a big barrel of corn syrup. In the spot, Bud Knight claims the barrel was mistakenly delivered to the Bud Light castle. The spot shows MillerCoors reps accepting the corn syrup. This ignited the great corn syrup war after the Super Bowl MillerCoors had to respond to the spot. They responded by running a full-page ad in the New York Times to address the spot. This led to a series of back and forth between the two rivals.

About Coors Light Marketing Innovation, the Smart Tap Dispenser

And for this campaign, no boys allowed!

Press release published Feb 22, 2019

Gainesville, FL, February 22, 2019 (Swampstratcomm-sp19.tumblr.com) - In their last issue, AdAge focused a few of its articles on the ever changing industry of online advertising. One such article described the challenges that the new Safari tracking prevention software was giving to marketers. This new software version makes it so that ads for websites that users have already visited cannot be displayed for that user, which makes it difficult to target consumers. While this is a step back for marketers, it is a step forward for consumer privacy. Another article delved into the controversy known as “corngate”, the recent feud between AB InBev (Bud Light) and MillerCoors. The feud started due to a Bud Light super bowl commercial which accused Coors of using corn syrup as an ingredient in their beer. While this is true, corn syrup should not be confused with high fructose corn syrup, which is a much un-healthier ingredient. Coors has since pointed out that the corn syrup they use is only during the fermentation process, meaning it may not even be in the final product at all, and that AB InBev makes several products with corn syrup in them.

The main article that I reviewed covered Land Rover, the popular luxury car company, and their new venture away from the outdoors and into the city. Up until now, LR has focused its marketing efforts on positioning their vehicles as outdoor vehicles that can go off road, while maintaining a classy and technologically advanced interior. However, LR has decided to market its smallest vehicle, the LAnd Rover Evoque, as a city vehicle. The target audience for the Evoque will be women, specifically women living in urban settings under the age of 35. 70% of consumers who bought the first generation Evoque fit into this demographic, making it an essential target for LR. LR has plans to launch a new ad campaign in May that will target this new demographic, entitled “live for the city”, which will feature ads that show women having fun on their own, without any men in the picture. One example of this will be an ad that features women away at “Camp No Man’s Land”, where they will play games such as “bro-less beer pong”.

From the article concerning tracking software in Safari, we can see the struggle between marketers wanting information and consumers wanting privacy, a very popular topic these days. While marketers may argue that by tracking user activity they can provide a more personalized ad experience for users, many still feel as though it is an invasion of their privacy. The Corngate article, on the other hand, was an example of a great public relations move by Coors Light. After being called out for using corn syrup in their beer, Coors proudly stated that this was a fact, and that they were proud to support farmers across America. This lead to a campaign called “toast to farmers”, where Coors celebrated the farmers that grow the ingredients in their beer. This campaign was mostly hosted on social media, and included pictures of the CEO of Coors visiting these farmers.

Ad Age is a daily must-read for an influential audience of decision makers and disruptors across the marketing and media landscape.

#SwampStratComm #TradeJournal3 #advertising #marketing #corngate #landrover #safari

Contact:

Mitchell Wood