The encyclopedia · Advertising & PR · Marketing decision · 2023
Coors Light turned a broken ballpark ad into its best sports play
When Ohtani smashed a black square into Coors Light's LED ad, Rethink made a replica can in 48 hours; it sold out in under a day.
Coors Light (Molson Coors)
The solution
During a 2023 Major League Baseball game, Shohei Ohtani smashed a foul ball into a Coors Light LED ad, knocking out a square of pixels directly above the logo on the can. Where most brands would quietly repair the board, Molson Coors and agency Rethink read the black square as an opportunity.
Within 48 hours they launched a special-edition can replicating the broken ad, and added the same black square to existing Coors Light OOH around Anaheim and on every screen inside Angel Stadium when Ohtani returned home. Fans followed, drawing the square onto their own cans and merch.
The can sold out in under 24 hours and went viral overnight; the actual broken panel was auctioned as memorabilia for over $7,000. With zero sponsorship spend, Coors Light trended above baseball's official beer, and demand from Ohtani's home market pushed Coors Light into Japan for the first time.
Why it worked
- An embarrassing defect became proof the brand is in the game
- 48-hour speed kept the moment hot
- No sponsorship money could buy that authenticity
- The square was simple enough for fans to join in
What can be applied
Real-time marketing is a race: when a flaw makes your brand part of the story, embrace it at once and hand fans a simple symbol — speed and sincerity beat any paid sponsorship.
Aftermath
The One Show 2024 gave the campaign a Silver Pencil in Product Packaging and a Silver for Social Post/Real-Time Response; the black square became a collector's item.
Sources
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