Molson Canadian is introducing a limited-edition beer it says has been “kissed by the Cup.” Ironically, this beer is brewed in Toronto (I’m going to pay dearly for all this Leafs mockery one day. But not this year. Or next, probably).
According to the brewer, all of the beer in the Molson Canadian Stanley Cup Batch passed through the bowl of hockey’s most celebrated trophy during the brewing process. “Just as the players dream of winning the Stanley Cup and celebrating with the iconic tradition of drinking beer from its bowl, fans can’t help but envision themselves doing the same,” it said in a release.
Molson is selling the beer in 6-packs of longnecks at beer and liquor stores across Canada, except Quebec—weird considering it looks like the Montreal Canadiens will be the only Canadian team to have a chance of actually drinking from the Cup this year.
“Drinking from the Cup is a special moment for players,” said Joy Ghosh, senior brand director for the Molson family of brands. “Yet sharing that feeling with the fans has never been done before, until now. The Stanley Cup Batch takes the passion Canadians have for our game and our beer to the next level.”
Drinking from the Stanley Cup is a longstanding tradition that is said to date back to the Winnipeg Victories in 1896. It has “evolved” over the years to include keg stands, which led to the NHL politely asking players to refrain from such actions.
An accompanying video created by Rethink features Hockey Hall of Fame curator and “Keeper of the Cup” Phil Pritchard holding the Cup as beer flows into the bowl, accompanied by historical footage of teams celebrating Cup victories.
The video will debut during the first period intermission of Monday’s Hockey Night in Canada telecast (June 7), introduced by host Ron MacLean, and is running through June 29 on digital channels including Sportsnet.ca and NHL.com.
Molson is also working with NHL alumnus and Cup winners on social media content in which they talk about what it was like to sip from the Cup itself.
In addition, former NHLers Brad May (a 2007 Cup winner with the Anaheim Ducks) and Willie Mitchell (a two-time Cup winner with the Los Angeles Kings in 2012 and 2014) are also doing radio and TV interviews to promote the new beer, including a media integration with the Rogers Sports & Media properties Breakfast Television and Tim & Friends. Media for the campaign was handled by Wavemaker, with Citizen Relations for PR and Volt for social.
Molson declined to provide specific details about how the brewing process worked, but said that every bottle of the limited-edition beer contains suds that have passed through the Cup in a process overseen by Pritchard. “We would have loved to pass all the beer through the Cup, but of course we had to ensure its integrity, like the inner engravings, were protected,” it said in an email.
Molson said that the process was completed following “strict sanitization protocols,” which might come as a relief to some would-be drinkers. Molson was referring to the pandemic but, well, let’s just say the Cup has seen some things over the years.
