NAD Refers Advertising by MillerCoors to FTC After Company Declines to Participate in a Review of its Advertising Claims

New York, NY – Aug. 13, 2013 – The National Advertising Division has referred advertising claims made by MillerCoors, LLC, to the Federal Trade Commission for further review, following the company’s refusal to participate in a review of certain advertising claims.

NAD is an investigative unit of the advertising industry’s system of self-regulation. It is administered by the Council of Better Business Bureaus.

Advertising claims made by MillerCoors for its Coors Light Beer can were challenged by Anheuser-Busch, LLC, a competing brewer. The challenged advertising claims appeared on the Coors Light beer can itself, on the product’s packaging, on social media websites, on the Coors Light website, and in at least two television commercials.

Challenged claims included:

•  “The World’s Most Refreshing Can.”
•  “NEW Double Vented wide Mouth.”
•  “2 Stage Cold Activation & Frost Brew Liner.”
•  “When the Mountains Turn Blue It’s As Cold as the Rockies.”
•  “Smoother, More Refreshing Pour.”
•  “Locks in Frost Brewed Taste.”
•  “Beer on the inside, Science on the outside.”

Anheuser-Busch also challenged the implied claim that Coors Light Beer cans are technologically superior to other beer cans, and provide a more refreshing beverage experience.

The advertiser respectfully declined to provide a substantive response to the challenge, which it characterized as “frivolous,” defended the claims at issue as either puffery or literally truthful and noted that it expects that all of the “World’s Most Refreshing Can” television and radio spots and related digital campaigns currently running to be permanently discontinued by the end of September.

Given the advertiser’s decision against participation in the self-regulatory process, NAD has referred the advertising at issue to the Federal Trade Commission for review, pursuant to NAD/CARU Procedures.