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(Courtesy Molson Coors)
Nothing helps beer sales like the right product placement in the right entertainment vehicle.
When Sweetwater’s 420 made a guest appearance in the popular Walking Dead series its sales spiked.
And now Coors Banquet is experiencing its own sales boost thanks its PROMINENT product placement in Netflix hit Cobra Kai series which returns key characters from the Karate Kid movies thirty years later.
Coors Banquet stars as the beer of choice (and sometimes all-night companion) for failed Karate teacher, John Lawrence, played humorously by William Zabka who was Ralph Macchio’s arch-enemy in the original film series. Down on his luck and stuck in the past, Johnny begins a redemption story and Coors Banquet is never far from his reach.
(Courtesy Netflix)
Cobra Kai has been a huge hit for the steaming service. More than 41 million households tuned into season three when it debuted in January and to date, Coors Banquet volume sales are up more than 5% and dollar sales are up 6.6%, according to IRI store data.
“It’s been really exciting to see a lot of the positive and organic momentum on Banquet this year,” says Nigel Jones, marketing manager for the brand told Beer & Beyond…
“It really has been a stark difference from where the brand was pretty steady going into December, but as soon as January came, velocities just took off, particularly on large packs,” including its famous stubby bottles.”
The timing matches up…Cobra Kai returned to Netflix for its third season on January 1 and Molson Coors, which didn’t seek out a presence on the show, felt an immediate sales bump.
“This brand placement has been one of the more surprising yet amazing things. It’s completely organic,” Jones says. “We never really knew how it ended up on the show.”
And sensei, Johnny Lawrence is not the only one with a passion for the heritage beer…
Coors Banquet, which was born in Golden, Colorado in 1873 and is brewed there exclusively to this day, has long and avid cult following. And due to its uber-limited distribution, what was Coors original recipe lager, (which received its “Banquet” moniker from miners back in the day who considered it a fancy beer) has been smuggled all over America.
By the late 1960s, its scarcity helped cement the beer’s cult status. According to Thrillist, “Eisenhower and Gerald Ford packed it aboard Air Force One, and Ford had it served at the White House mess every Thursday.”
And its exposure on Cobra Kai is bringing the beer to a whole new generation…
“Coors Banquet is going to continue to be a bigger part of culture. And in many ways, that’s happening organically,” Jones added.
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