Coors Light Brings Chill to College Basketball Madness With New, Beer-Flavored Chillollipops

The beer brand launches social experiment to test the effectiveness of sucking on a lollipop for stressed-out sports fans

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--From seeding and selection to the championship round, the drama of your favorite on-court sport can be tense. During the 3 weeks of nail-biting basketball games, stressed out sports fans watch as their favorite college b-ball teams advance to the next round or while their brackets are busted. Either way, fans could use a little chill. Today, Coors Light is bringing the chill in a new form of “Chillollipop,” refreshing beer-flavored lollipops.

Why lollipops? The brand was inspired to try a social experiment of its own to test the effectiveness of the Coors Light Chillollipop after reading about previous social experiments where lollipops and hard candies were distributed to club and bar goers at the end of the evening to calm them down.

As the brand known for its chill ethos, Coors Light enlisted the advice of Manhattan College professor, Donald E. Gibson, Ph.D., who weighed in on the charged state sports fans experience while watching games.

“Emotions are contagious,” said Gibson. “If there are strong emotions around us, it’s very easy to be swept up in them. I believe that something as simple as a lollipop could have a calming influence in an emotionally charged situation.”

The brand hopes the Chillollipop will bring calm to the madness of college basketball.

“March is one of the most stressful times of the year for a college basketball fan,” said Marcelo Pascoa, Vice President of Marketing for the Coors Family of Brands. “During all the incredible highs and lows of March basketball, Coors Light is the brand to bring a moment of chill. Whether in the form of a Chillollipop to bring the calm, or a mountain-cold Coors Light to refresh spirits.”

The lollipop, intended for consumers 21+ and crafted to taste similar to Coors Light, does not contain alcohol, but does have a frothy foam top, similar to the experience of drinking a Coors Light from a pint.

“Will it work? We don’t know, but we can’t imagine anyone has ever been unhappy or angry with a lollipop in their mouth, so we wanted to give the Coors Light Chillollipop experiment a try,” added Pascoa.

Starting today through the end of the tournament, Coors Light Chillollipops will be sold in 6-packs at shop.coorslight.com for $3.17, a nod to the first day of the tournament.

The brand, known for its chill ethos, brought its new Chillollipops to bars across New York City to test if it’s beer-flavored lollipops brought the chill to amped-up basketball fans as they watched conference tournaments. View some of the early results in this short film.

Consumers are invited to share their results of the social experiment on Coors Light’s Instagram @coorslight and Twitter @coorslight.

About Molson Coors

For more than two centuries, Molson Coors has been brewing beverages that unite people to celebrate all life’s moments. From Coors Light, Miller Lite, Molson Canadian, Carling, and Staropramen to Coors Banquet, Blue Moon Belgian White, Blue Moon LightSky, Vizzy Hard Seltzer, Topo Chico Hard Seltzer, Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy, Creemore Springs, Hop Valley and more, Molson Coors produces many beloved and iconic beer brands. While the company’s history is rooted in beer, Molson Coors offers a modern portfolio that expands beyond the beer aisle as well. Our Environmental, Social and Governance strategy is focused on People and Planet with a strong commitment to raising industry standards and leaving a positive imprint on our employees, consumers, communities, and the environment. Learn more about Molson Coors Beverage Company, visit molsoncoors.com, MolsonCoorsOurImprint.com or on Twitter through @MolsonCoors.