We sincerely advise Coors Light to cool it on its latest ad campaign.
We live in and are used to a ridiculously pro-drinking culture. Mommy needs wine mugs, childrens’ birthday parties where the prosecco flows, and memes about not trusting non-drinkers abound. Apparently alcohol in Tide Pod-like containers is now a thing? It’s simply too much… but we digress.
The Coors Light ads, which you’ve no doubt seen if you’ve been keeping up with your football, include:
A group of men “playing golf” just to drink beer
A woman taking off her bra and enjoying a beer at the end of a long day
Two men drinking beer and watching the game… on a Saturday morning
There was a bit of a backlash against the last one, mostly because many people think drinking in the morning is a sign of alcoholism. In fact, drinking in the morning as a “hair of the dog” remedy for a hangover is one of the official DSM-V signs of alcohol use disorder, but there’s no indication that the ad specifically referred to a “hair of the dog” type of situation.
But we have a problem with all three ads, more so than we do with other alcohol ads we’ve seen lately. Why? Because they reinforce common excuses people make for drinking. And once you start making excuses to drink, it’s just a few more steps to get to a problem with alcohol.
The men who aren’t “drinking,” they’re just “playing golf”? They may discover in a year or two that they don’t have any real hobbies anymore, because they really just enjoy drinking (whether on the golf course, at a bowling alley, or at home).
The woman who’s taking her bra off at the end of a hard day and simply must reach for the beer because hey, she’s relaxing? She will need to relax a lot throughout her life. If she reaches for a beer every time, that will lead to a problem.
The bros who have a traditional beer on a Saturday morning as a pre-game ritual? How many football games are they going to watch? Forget long term: how drunk are they going to be by the end of the day?
No one needs a drink to have fun, to relax, or to enjoy a good game. If you’re going to drink, be honest about why you want to drink, decide on how much you have with full awareness of the risks, and make changes if you find it’s difficult sticking to moderate drinking limits. Making excuses is a great way to end up drinking too much.
If you’ve decided to cut back or quit drinking, we’d love to help. Drinker’s Helper is an app that provides motivational exercises, drink tracking and insights into why you drink, and a support group of your peers to help you make needed changes. Try it free for a week before joining!
