Kansas City Chiefs Superstar Patrick Mahomes Appears In Unique Coors Campaign

The NFL has strict rules limiting how its active players can endorse alcoholic beverages. So Coors Light came up with a clever way around it involving Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

During a summer ad campaign debuting Wednesday, Mahomes won’t technically promote Coors Light; instead he will do so for a Coors-brand flashlight called “The Coors Light.”

“It’s a play on words. We love the pun,” Chris Steele, Coors Light’s senior director of marketing, exclusively shared. “It’s a way for him to have a fun, little campaign with Coors Light while still following all the rules.”

Coors Light is selling the flashlight on its website for $15 — which is the quarterback’s number. All proceeds will go to the 15 and the Mahomies Foundation, the quarterback’s charity which focuses on improving the lives of children in needy communities.

The beer company will release a limited number of flashlights every day at 10 a.m. from July 13 to July 15. They have a four-figure supply of product but expect to sell out.

“This summer I’m excited to team up with Coors Light again to debut The Coors Light,” Mahomes said in a statement. “It’s a legit flashlight. It’s made with high-quality steel. So it feels cold like the Rocky Mountains.”

Mahomes became a paid endorser for Coors Light shortly after he won MVP in Super Bowl LIV. He was seen drinking beer while celebrating. So it seemed like a natural pairing.

“It’s his authentic love for the brand. He’s been drinking Coors Light for a long time based on it being his dad’s favorite beer,” Steele said. “Being a superstar quarterback and an all-around good guy certainly doesn’t hurt.”

Having quarterbacked the Chiefs to four AFC Championship Games, won a Super Bowl and won a regular-season MVP, it’s no surprise that the 26-year-old Mahomes is a Madison Avenue hit.

Mahomes is an endorser or partner of Adidas, Oakley, Head & Shoulders, State Farm, Bose, DIRECTV, Electronic ArtsEA
, BioSteel, Essentia Water, GEHA, CommunityAmerica Credit Union, Whoop, Hyperice, Airshare and Hy-Vee.

That’s, of course, in addition to his contract with the Chiefs that has the largest value ($450 million) and the third highest average annual value ($45 million) of any NFL player.

The superstar’s latest ad campaign is an amusing one crafted by Mischief agency. The ad, which pokes fun at the NFL rules against players promoting alcohol and also shows Mahomes trying to pour liquid before batteries fall out instead, will not be televised or in print publications. It appears on Mahomes’ and Coors Lights’ social channels.

It marks Mahomes’ first official advertisement in which he’s holding a Coors Light product, but it’s not the first time he was able to publicize the brand.

He notably drank Coors Light during The Match when he partnered with Josh Allen against Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers in the televised 12-hole match play at the Wynn Golf Club in Paradise, Nev.

“He definitely enjoys an ice cold Coors Light on a golf course,” Steele said.

Longtime sports business journalist Darren Rovell said that product placement gave Coors Light the equivalent of $110,000 in free advertising.

Mahomes will give the brand another boost this week.