American Craft Beer The Best Craft Beer, Breweries, Bars, Brewpubs, Beer Stores, And Restaurants Serving Serious Beer.
Courtesy Molson Coors
On February 15 Miller Genuine Draft, a Molson Coors beer brand more commonly associated older drinkers than boomers and Gen Xer’s, unveiled its first major branding overhaul in 36 years.
Gone is the can’s traditional gold-and-black color motif, replaced by a weathered black-and-red look featuring MGD’s trademark eagle swooping over the beer’s name.
As Anne Pando, senior marketing manager for MGD explained to Molson Coors’ Beer & Beyond “the imagery gives MGD packaging a new striking and contemporary look that will stand out in US beer aisles.”
Old MGD can
“Miller Genuine Draft is a large brand in Molson Coors’ U.S. portfolio, and we wanted to breathe some new life into it, re-engage with our core drinkers, and set the brand up for future success,” Pando added, calling the rebrand “long overdue.”
But when you look at the can’s long overdue redesign “Genuine Draft” reads like “Genuine Craft” and it’s hard to think (at least from our perspective) that this was entirely a mistake.
To be fair, all we have is the image that came with the press release we received. But when we presented this picture to nearly 20 people with no explanation, and asked them to read the can’s text, ALL of them came back with “Genuine Craft” not “Genuine Draft.”
Even though MGD’s brand packaging has been tweaked in the US from time to time over the years, this was a MAJOR REBRANDING. And no one at Molson Coors suggested that text with its weathered design makes the D in “Genuine Draft” look suspiciously like a C in ”Genuine Craft”?
Really?
But unlike the Stone Brewing / Keystone Beer controversy, which we believe is still working its way through the courts, this is hardly a litigious act on Molson Coors’ part even if it was semi-intentional.
Just as with “draft,” no one owns the word “craft,” not even the Brewers Association whose definition of craft beer is held up as the standard by many in the brewing industry.
So we expect that this “controversy,” if it’s even fair to call it that, ends here.
