18 Dec 2009
By Paul Mitchell
Canada has a well-earned reputation for great beer and great people who like beer. Although the general taste trend is away from traditional ales (remember how ubiquitous Molson Export was during the 70's and 80's?) toward big name U.S. corporate lagers and pilsners, Canadians still love their beer (Read a really interesting article in the Globe and Mail here). When it comes to the Canadian identity, beer is right up there with hockey, saying "thank you", and the Tragically Hip. So when I was enjoying another northern tradition of watching the Grey Cup (in 2009, between the Montreal Alouettes and the Saskatchewan Roughriders), what struck me was a distinct absence of beer in league sponsorship and advertising during the broadcast. Beer and football are a classic combination. So where were the beer ads? And what struck me as even more interesting was the overwhelming number of whisky ads (whiskey for our American friends). But when you look back at the history of alcohol sponsorship in the Canadian Football League, whisky has held a very lofty place...
The CFL has a long and storied history. In fact, the Grey Cup is the second oldest sports trophy in North America (second only to the Stanley Cup) being awarded first in 1909 by Earl Grey, Governor General of Canada at the time. The CFL's Grey Cup game is one of the few championships that are distinctly Canadian (the university CIS league's Vanier Cup being one, and major junior hockey's Memorial Cup is another, although there are a number of US based teams who are now competing for it). Breweries have proudly advertised and sponsored these sports -- the Winnipeg Blue Bombers took their name from Labatt Blue as part of an old agreement -- but as foreign ownership has overtaken the business in Canada, beer's prominence has declined. Another trend that has lessened beer's prevalence in sports marketing has been a shift away from sports toward sponsorship of music and concert festivals. Where beer sponsorship would seem to be a logical choice, hard liquor and Canadian rye whisky dominates football's advertising and sponsorship.
With social norms having changed over the years to endorsing a lifestyle of greater moderation, Canadian whisky's large representation in football seems perplexing. While it may seem to be a continuation of a deep tradition -- Schenley Distillers had a strong partnership with the CFL through the fifties to the eighties through eponymously-named trophies for the most outstanding player awards -- most of the whisky partnership deals are recent in nature. Gibsons Canadian Whisky is the largest sponsor of the league, but Wisers, Drambuie and Jack Daniels are also major advertisers. Canadian Club is a title sponsor of SportsCentre on TSN. In the face of stronger opposition, harsher legislative limitations on how advertisements and sponsorships can be conducted, and less favourable public opinion, distillers are finding a good audience through football.
By targeting football in particular over other sports, should it be perceived that whisky is favoured by tougher, more "real men"? Perhaps, but surely it can not be a coincidence that there are so many hard spirit ads shown during CFL games. As a percentage, whisky ads are not as equally represented during other events or in commercial time generally. Distillers have their research and marketing analysis to support targeting football fans, and the proof is in their revenues. Despite hard liquor sales declining in comparison to wine and beer, total sales have been increasing overall ($16.1 billion in Canada in 2004) with spirits constituting 24.7% of all alcoholic purchases. Canadians per capita drink 7.6 litres of spirits during a year. Vodka as a category has been increasing more rapidly than other spirits, but Canadians still favour their rye whisky. In 2008, Canadians bought US$129.1 million worth of imported whisky (spelled whisky in Canada and Britain, and whiskey in the United States). That amount represents a 4% gain from the $123.4 million consumed in 2007. According to Liquor Canada Magazine, three out of four bottles of whisky sold are rye. Read the interesting article by clicking here.
So, if football is the Canadian game, and rye whisky is the Canadian drink, then a marketing partnership of the two only makes sense. Hopefully we will see more of these sponsorships and new creative campaigns that celebrate CFL and being Canadian. Cheers!
Links:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/food-and-wine/beer-raise-a-glass-to-the-great-continental-divider/article1367159
http://liquorcanadamagazine.com/features/whisky-nation/36740
Canada has a well-earned reputation for great beer and great people who like beer. Although the general taste trend is away from traditional ales (remember how ubiquitous Molson Export was during the 70's and 80's?) toward big name U.S. corporate lagers and pilsners, Canadians still love their beer (Read a really interesting article in the Globe and Mail here). When it comes to the Canadian identity, beer is right up there with hockey, saying "thank you", and the Tragically Hip. So when I was enjoying another northern tradition of watching the Grey Cup (in 2009, between the Montreal Alouettes and the Saskatchewan Roughriders), what struck me was a distinct absence of beer in league sponsorship and advertising during the broadcast. Beer and football are a classic combination. So where were the beer ads? And what struck me as even more interesting was the overwhelming number of whisky ads (whiskey for our American friends). But when you look back at the history of alcohol sponsorship in the Canadian Football League, whisky has held a very lofty place...
The CFL has a long and storied history. In fact, the Grey Cup is the second oldest sports trophy in North America (second only to the Stanley Cup) being awarded first in 1909 by Earl Grey, Governor General of Canada at the time. The CFL's Grey Cup game is one of the few championships that are distinctly Canadian (the university CIS league's Vanier Cup being one, and major junior hockey's Memorial Cup is another, although there are a number of US based teams who are now competing for it). Breweries have proudly advertised and sponsored these sports -- the Winnipeg Blue Bombers took their name from Labatt Blue as part of an old agreement -- but as foreign ownership has overtaken the business in Canada, beer's prominence has declined. Another trend that has lessened beer's prevalence in sports marketing has been a shift away from sports toward sponsorship of music and concert festivals. Where beer sponsorship would seem to be a logical choice, hard liquor and Canadian rye whisky dominates football's advertising and sponsorship.
With social norms having changed over the years to endorsing a lifestyle of greater moderation, Canadian whisky's large representation in football seems perplexing. While it may seem to be a continuation of a deep tradition -- Schenley Distillers had a strong partnership with the CFL through the fifties to the eighties through eponymously-named trophies for the most outstanding player awards -- most of the whisky partnership deals are recent in nature. Gibsons Canadian Whisky is the largest sponsor of the league, but Wisers, Drambuie and Jack Daniels are also major advertisers. Canadian Club is a title sponsor of SportsCentre on TSN. In the face of stronger opposition, harsher legislative limitations on how advertisements and sponsorships can be conducted, and less favourable public opinion, distillers are finding a good audience through football.
By targeting football in particular over other sports, should it be perceived that whisky is favoured by tougher, more "real men"? Perhaps, but surely it can not be a coincidence that there are so many hard spirit ads shown during CFL games. As a percentage, whisky ads are not as equally represented during other events or in commercial time generally. Distillers have their research and marketing analysis to support targeting football fans, and the proof is in their revenues. Despite hard liquor sales declining in comparison to wine and beer, total sales have been increasing overall ($16.1 billion in Canada in 2004) with spirits constituting 24.7% of all alcoholic purchases. Canadians per capita drink 7.6 litres of spirits during a year. Vodka as a category has been increasing more rapidly than other spirits, but Canadians still favour their rye whisky. In 2008, Canadians bought US$129.1 million worth of imported whisky (spelled whisky in Canada and Britain, and whiskey in the United States). That amount represents a 4% gain from the $123.4 million consumed in 2007. According to Liquor Canada Magazine, three out of four bottles of whisky sold are rye. Read the interesting article by clicking here.
So, if football is the Canadian game, and rye whisky is the Canadian drink, then a marketing partnership of the two only makes sense. Hopefully we will see more of these sponsorships and new creative campaigns that celebrate CFL and being Canadian. Cheers!
Links:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/food-and-wine/beer-raise-a-glass-to-the-great-continental-divider/article1367159
http://liquorcanadamagazine.com/features/whisky-nation/36740
