Every time you toss an aluminum can into a recycling bin, you’re living a legacy pioneered by Bill Coors. The visionary beer brewer helped introduce the idea of recyclable aluminum cans in the 1950s, and Coors Brewing has been a leader in innovative waste reduction, waste conservation, energy, and sustainable brewing practices ever since.
The organization’s history shows that building a brand, and a more sustainable future, can go hand in hand. In 2016 Coors Light cut its aluminum usage by 3.8 million pounds. All of its major breweries are landfill-free, with less than one percent of waste generated going to landfills. They’ve built the most powerful U.S. solar array at any one brewery, in Irwindale, California, which can produce the equivalent of 22 million beers per year powered by the sun. Decreasing water use and reusing brewing waste to make ethanol fuel and feed are also integral to the brand’s sustainability program.
Aluminum beverage cans are top of mind as far as recyclable items go, and in the swell of the summer, we go through a lot of them. At the center of tailgates with friends, backyard barbecues with family and low key afternoon hangs, empty beverage cans multiply almost as fast as cases get off the truck. In some circles, “Where’s your recycling?” is a common phrase heard, and it does show; the recycling rate for aluminum beer and soda cans holds a bit higher than items such as plastic bottles and jars.
Glass is another widely recyclable beverage packaging material for beer and soda products. Unlike can pull-tabs, glass bottles open by pulling off a bottle cap, typically colorfully decorated with the logo of the brand of beverage. We’ll play games with them, mindlessly pocket them, and some people even collect them.
CHICAGO, June 7, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of its nationwide EveryOneCan program, Coors Light will donate five cents to Keep Texas Beautiful for every Silver Bullet served in participating Texas bars through August 31, 2017. The donation, potentially as much as $100,000, commemorates the organization's 50th anniversary.
The idea of thinking about the future journey of products and packaging is being embraced by Coors Light in the U.S. as it plans to convert its old billboards into beer coolers and damaged beer kegs into BBQ grills for in-store marketing, as reported by Adweek. The brand’s environmental push will be part of it’s summer campaign “Every One Can” where TerraCycle will upcycle the discarded packaging and promotional material into items that will include a tag that reads “I used to be a billboard.”
The upcycling program is just another effort from the brand under its “Climb On” umbrella campaign, by 72andSunny, which also includes TV spots that promote the brand’s sustainable contributions, like how it uses massive solar-power systems at MillerCoors’ breweries.
Why brands are riding the wave of conscious consumption.
That Coors bag used to be a billboard
The idea of thinking about the future journey of products and packaging is being embraced by Coors Light in the U.S. as it plans to convert its old billboards into beer coolers and damaged beer kegs into BBQ grills for in-store marketing, as reported by Adweek. The brand’s environmental push will be part of it’s summer campaign “Every One Can” where TerraCycle will upcycle the discarded packaging and promotional material into items that will include a tag that reads “I used to be a billboard.”
The upcycling program is just another effort from the brand under its “Climb On” umbrella campaign, by 72andSunny, which also includes TV spots that promote the brand’s sustainable contributions, like how it uses massive solar-power systems at MillerCoors’ breweries.
The beer brand is pushing for customers to use repurposed products and to recycle their beer cans in this summer's promotional campaign
The
Coors Light marketing team plans to launch a summer promotional campaign called “Every One Can” to encourage customers to recycle and purchase their new sustainable products.
Coors will turn its billboards into cooler bags and damaged kegs into barbecue grills to use for in-store displays. Customers will identify the recycled bags with a stamp that reads, “I used to be a billboard”. The company has tasked the help from
TerraCycle, a recycling agency who specializes in hard-to-recycle materials. During the summer promotion, Coors will attempt to encourage customers to recycle their beer cans more frequently.
New programs, initiatives and innovations that drive forward the transition to a circular company seem to be popping up almost daily. The latest to pick up the banner for the circular cause? Coors Light and the City of London Corporation.
Coors Light, a MillerCoors brand, is shining light on its sustainability achievements and goals with a new twist on its ongoing “Climb On” campaign and the roll out of “Every One Can,” a summer promotional campaign, which includes the conversion of its billboards into beer coolers and its kegs into barbeque grills, as well as a large-scale push to get drinkers to recycle beer cans.
According to senior marketing director, Elina Vives, Coors has long pursued sustainability goals at the corporate level, but “just haven’t talked about it.” By highlighting its environmental credentials, the brand hopes to win over consumers that, according to consumer research, favor environmentally friendly brands. Sixty-six percent of consumers say they are willing to pay more for sustainable brands, up from 55% in 2014 and 50% in 2013, according to the latest Nielsen Global Corporate Sustainability report published in late 2015. Packaged goods giant Unilever recently did its own study and found that there is an untapped opportunity of around $1 trillion in sales globally for "sustainable goods."
Coors Light marketers tested their sustainability ad and promotional campaign concepts with consumers before moving forward. “They saw it as positive news for the brand,” Vives added. “They saw it as a fresh approach, especially in the American light lager segment.”
Several months ago, the brand began storing the vinyl material used to make its advertising billboards, rather than sending it to landfills. With the help of TerraCycle, Coors is now using the material to make cooler bags for beer, which they plan to give away to consumers in states where that is legal. Each bag bears a tag that reads, “I used to be a billboard.”
The brewer is also transforming damaged beer kegs into barbecue grills that will be used for in-store marketing displays. The agency behind the promotional campaign is Leo Burnett’s shopper marketing agency, Arc, as well as the brewer’s PR agency Olsen. Coors Light plants to roll out the “Every One Can” program with TV ads this summer.
In January 2015, MillerCoors announced the completion of a 3.2 megawatt capacity solar panel installation at its brewery in Irwindale, Calif. The following year, the company reported that all of its major breweries had reached landfill-free status, meaning that no glass, paperboard, plastics or metal waste are sent to landfills. Any remaining non-reusable or recyclable brewery waste is sent to a waste-to-energy facility.
Here's one way to make sure your advertising doesn't go to waste: As part of a new sustainability marketing push, Coors Light is converting its billboards into beer coolers and its kegs into barbeque grills. The effort will kick into gear in a few months as part of a summer promotional campaign called "Every One Can," which will also include a large-scale push to get drinkers to recycle beer cans.
The MillerCoors brand will begin touting its environmental credentials in TV ads next week that begin a new chapter of its ongoing "Climb On" campaign by
72andSunny. The Coors brand has long pursued sustainability goals at the corporate level. But "we just haven't talked about it," said Elina Vives, senior marketing director for Coors brands.
