Coors Light wanted to playfully maintain their “chill” reputation by calming March Madness fans. Creating a more mellow bar environment during one of the biggest sporting events in the United States relied on taking an earned-first approach to get people talking. Our plan of action involved product innovation right in the hands of our consumers and a press strategy that garnered around 800 million earned media impressions.

The NCAA College Basketball Tournament (“March Madness”) is one of the USA’s biggest sporting events; nearly one third of Americans watch it every year. This notoriously unpredictable tournament is a great opportunity for fans to watch the games together in sports bars. Unfortunately, the stress of these high-stakes games causes people to get a bit too fired up. Coors Light, the “Made to Chill” beer, wanted to help fans chill, particularly when they were in bars or gathering in large groups. We found a solution in a simple, psychologically proven tool: a lollipop. According to a phenomenon called “mood-congruent memory,” a lollipop can help people regulate their mood by reminding them of a positive memory. With fans eager to return to bars for the first time in a couple of years, we knew finding a playful way to make March less mad was especially important.

Coors Light, the “Made to Chill” beer, wanted to help fired-up March Madness fans chill when the drama of the basketball tournament became too heated. We did it with a simple lollipop: the Chillollipop.

According to a psychological phenomenon called “mood-congruent memory,” licking a lollipop helps to regulate mood and reduce aggression by shifting focus from present stress to happy memories.

We created beer-flavored lollipops and staged a social experiment, distributing the Chillollipops to bars around New York City during tense basketball action. Bartenders told us there was “no fucking way” it would work, but in the end, everyone agreed the Chillollipop helped mellow out the crowd.

We even sold six packs of the Chillollipop online to chill out fans watching at home, selling out all 5,000 units in just one day, then restocking to meet demand.

Just like that, March Madness became much less…mad.

Every year, 31% of Americans watch the NCAA College Basketball Tournament (“March Madness”). Fans commonly get fired up when their favorite team is losing, particularly when they are out in groups or in bars. As the “Made to Chill” beer, Coors Light sought to capture the audience of young (21–29) basketball fans who were most likely to act out during the games and help bring some chill during the peak fever pitch of March Madness drama. Our call to action was the Chillollipop: a beer-flavored lollipop that, based on a psychological phenomenon called “mood-congruent memory,” would help regulate mood. We staged a social experiment in bars across NYC and created a social film showcasing the effectiveness of the lollipop. We made the Chillollipops available in six packs for people to purchase and enjoy at home, making March less mad and restoring chill in a playful way.

Coors Light set out to bring more chill to the annual March Madness fever pitch by creating the Chillollipop: a lollipop designed to look and taste like a foamy glass of beer. In a hidden camera experiment in bars across NYC, we captured footage of fans fired up during basketball games, then watched the mood shift after the fans were given a Chillollipop. Bartenders agreed that the Chillollipop had a noticeable effect, proving the psychological basis of our experiment– mood-congruent memory –to be true. On March 17, 2022, the first day of the tournament, we posted the results of our experiment on social and sold six packs of Chillollipops for fans to chill at home. Thousands sold out in one day; we restocked. The Chillollipop even made it to The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and The Today Show. Just as we had hoped, March became much less mad.

142 online placements, 218 broadcast placements, 1 print placement, and 1 social post, including The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Today Show, People magazine, and “Pardon My Take” podcast by Barstool Sports

777.4 Million impressions

1608% increase in website traffic

$8.58 million in earned media value

5,000 Chillollipops sold out online in less than 24 hours, then sold out again after restocking

100% positive or neutral sentiment

Qualitative confirmation from bartenders that basketball fans were noticeably calmer after receiving a Chillollipop. Bartenders unanimously said they would like to have Chillollipops on hand for future sporting events.