Molson gears up to support Team Canada, as Miller Lite launches new All Stars ad with Mia Hamm

From Molson Coors & Alex Parker:

✓  The Molson family of brands is a sponsor of Team Canada
✓  Molson will also team up with Team Canada parents, who are starring in a new campaign
✓ In the U.S., Miller Lite All Star Mia Hamm is starring in a new ad for the “Great Taste, Less Filling” campaign

With the world coming together over sports this summer, two Molson Coors brands are celebrating how the competitive spirit unites us all.

In Canada, the Molson family of brands is sponsoring Team Canada. But it’s also ready to shine a light on the unsung heroes working behind the scenes, who have helped the athletes from day one.   

Meanwhile in the U.S., Miller Lite is continuing its “Great Taste, Less Filling” campaign with a new ad featuring soccer legend Mia Hamm.

Molson will Sponsor the Parents

As Molson partners with Team Canada, it’s also sponsoring the people who helped the athletes achieve so much: their parents.

“Parents put in countless hours to help their kids get to the podium, from driving back and forth for practices to spending the time and money to travel for competitions,” says Kristin Lucente, marketing manager for the Molson family of brands. “We wanted to raise a Molson in support of the unsung heroes of Team Canada and give them the sponsorship they deserve.”

For the “Sponsor the Parents” campaign, nine parents of five athletes will get the star treatment, says Lucente. The parents get an endorsement deal, a role in a commercial and social media coverage of their journey to Paris.  (Legal-drinking age consumers can follow along on social media in both English and French.)

Here’s the full list of Team Canada parents that Molson is sponsoring:

• Joe and Rachelle Clay, parents of Zachary Clay (gymnast)
• Travis and Susan Wog, parents of Kelsey Wog (swimmer)
• Lynda South, parent of Jacqueline Simoneau (synchronized swimmer)
• Nancy Tan and Michael Yang, parents of Brian Yang (badminton)
• Tony and Fiona Di Stasio, parents of Justina Di Stasio (wrestler)

The video, which will air in Canada during the games, showcases how the parents willingly sacrificed their time and energy to help their kids achieve their dreams.

Lucente says that Molson made sure to select parents of both men’s and women’s athletes and from all over Canada, including the provinces of British Columbia, Manitoba, Quebec and Ontario. During the games, Molson will have localized media, including out-of-home ads that will be specific to the different regions.

“Sponsor the Parents” is the latest evolution of Molson’s popular “Everyone In” campaign launched in 2023, which has contributed to share gains in Canada. In April, it continued the campaign with its “Backyards” iteration, which will continue during the games with several pop-up events in Calgary, Alberta, and Montreal.

Molson has been finding unique ways of supporting athletes this year. In March, it created special jerseys for two teams of the Professional Women’s Hockey League, which allowed spectators to better see the players’ names. It also created special, limited-edition cans of Molson Drai, er Dry, for fans of Edmonton Oilers star Leon Draisaitl, and another celebrating the PWHL champions.

Miller Lite scores with Mia Hamm

In the U.S., Miller Lite is getting into the competitive spirit with a brand-new ad for its “Great Taste, Less Filling” campaign, featuring Hamm, the American soccer superstar who joined Miller Lite’s cast of All Stars this year.

“We’re thrilled to highlight our partnership with Mia this summer,” says Ashley Austin, associate marketing manager for Miller Lite. “She embodies what it means to be an All Star and has two gold medals to prove it.”

The brand created a new video with Hamm that will air on TV and online throughout the next two weeks. In the ad, a runner delivers a special package to Hamm – a Miller Lite all the way from France.

Miller Lite also created retail tools with Hamm that will be leveraged at retail to amplify the brand’s Americana packaging and displays.  

“When we feature an American hero like Mia side by side with our iconic Americana packaging, it highlights her trailblazing career and how sports and Miller Lite bring us together,” says Austin.