Molson Coors/YouTube
- Molson Coors has been told to pull an advert that implies rival light beers "taste like water."
- The National Advertising Division recommended that it end the Miller Lite campaign.
- The NAD said the brewer didn't submit any evidence to back up its claim.
Molson Coors has been told to withdraw an advertisement for Miller Lite beer after it seemed to suggest that rival brews "taste like water."
Anheuser-Busch (AB InBev), which makes beers including Budweiser and Corona, challenged Molson Coors' decision to run the ad and brought a case to advertising industry regulator National Advertising Division.
The NAD recommended that Molson Coors discontinue its 2022 ad promoting Miller Lite that said "light beer shouldn't taste like water. It should taste like beer."
The 15-second spot shows a man cycling up a hill before stopping and pouring an "extremely lite beer" on himself. The advert didn't identify a specific beer, but the NAD decided that saying rivals taste like water was "a measurable attribute" and that Molson Coors didn't submit any evidence to back up its claim.
Molson Coors is appealing the NAD's recommendation to the National Advertising Review Board and said in its advertiser statement to NAD that it "disagrees" with its decision.
A company representative also questioned Anheuser-Busch's "sudden concern" given the ad had not been broadcast for several months, CNN reported.
In 2019 AB InBev was sued by Molson Coors over a Super Bowl ad campaign highlighting the use of corn syrup in the brewing process for Miller Lite and Coors Lite. The case was later dismissed.
The NAD is a self-regulatory body overseen by non-profit watchdog BBB National Programs. Advertisers that don't comply with the NAD's decisions, which aren't legally binding, are referred to the Federal Trade Commission to review, according to its website.
Molson Coors and AB InBev didn't immediately respond to requests for comment from Insider made outside normal working hours.