B.C. beer ads irk Torontonians
By DHARM MAKWANA, 24 HOURS
24 Hours
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VANCOUVER -- A B.C. billboard campaign for Coors beer is being pulled after area Torontonians were offended by the ad.
About 30 billboards scattered across the province boldly state Coors Light is "colder than most people from Toronto."
Adam Moffat, Molson brand and marketing public relations manager, said a handful of offended customers e-mailed to complain.
But, when a Toronto newspaper reported on the billboards yesterday, a public relations firestorm erupted.
"Landing in the newspaper today has really been the spark of the debate and it really has become quite heated," Moffat said.
He added, the idea for the "light-hearted" and "cheeky" campaign came from "insight gleaned from people in the west."
Coors pulled the plug on the 16-week campaign, which was scheduled to run until Sept. 4, in the face of backlash from customers living in Toronto.
"Sometimes we get it wrong," Moffat said. "This is one instance where we misfired and we realized that after seeing people's reaction here in Toronto."
