Following a positive social media response to the Los Angeles Angels' Shohei Ohtani damaging an LED board displaying an ad for Coors Light, a limited edition can for the beer was released and sold out the next day.
Ohtani struck a long foul ball in the Angels' Major League Baseball match against the New York Mets on 26 August, hitting and damaging an LED sign at the Mets' Citi Field. A square of lights went out in the upper left of a pictured Coors Light can, creating an image that would quickly become iconic as it was shared across social media.
The company reflected the image with an unexpected new can design it shared on X, crediting Los Angeles Angels’ Ohtani as “the best player in baseball”. The post received a massive fan response, with over 1.3 million views and 2,000 reposts.
Looks like we got a new can design thanks to the best player in baseball. Thoughts? pic.twitter.com/L3kUHvdMTc
— Coors Light (@CoorsLight) August 29, 2023
The post was quickly flooded with comments calling for the new can design to be produced in memory of the moment. The post’s success prompted the subsequent announcement that the commemorative packaging was indeed to be made available for purchase as a limited edition can.
You asked for it and now it’s here. Get a piece of Coors Light baseball history with a commemorative replica of the can inspired by one of the world’s biggest baseball superstars. Available now at https://t.co/p06oDaUZDi pic.twitter.com/QM0uwyq5wC
— Coors Light (@CoorsLight) September 5, 2023
Announced on 5 September, the new 'Hits the Spot' design also received a massive response, with over 900,000 views and over 1,600 reposts on X to date. By 6 September, the collectible was sold out as fans flocked to purchase the “piece of Coors Light baseball history”.
As the can immortalizes Ohtani’s hit, it represents an example of the colliding worlds of packaging and sporting history. GlobalData analytics suggest a 41% increase in social media posts around individualism and expression in the packaging industry over the last 12 months, demonstrating an increasing interest in creative and unusual packaging.
The Molson Coors Beverage Company has explored creative, limited edition lines previously, to celebrate and commemorate specific moments. April 2022 saw Coors Banquet release its “Own the Legacy” line, remembering the brand’s relationship with American beer, even through Prohibition.
Our signals coverage is powered by GlobalData’s Thematic Engine, which tags millions of data items across six alternative datasets — patents, jobs, deals, company filings, social media mentions and news — to themes, sectors and companies. These signals enhance our predictive capabilities, helping us to identify the most disruptive threats across each of the sectors we cover and the companies best placed to succeed.
