Alma – Coors Light – Iceman to Canton Case Study -2021

The brief started with a Hispanic Heritage Month assignment for NFL. We started our internet research to look up Hispanic players past and present and we stumbled down a rabbit hole of rage. Hundreds of fans were complaining that Tom Flores, the first Latino quarterback and head coach in the NFL, was still not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame after 20 years of trying. My partner and I turned to each other and agreed it just wasn’t right.

We asked ourselves how could we ethically even do an idea for Hispanic football fans if one of the Hispanic pioneers of the game wasn’t even being recognized? It seemed like a wrong that needed correcting immediately, so we brought it to Coors Light as our wild card. We knew it wasn’t the ask, but to their credit they saw the value in it right away. Tom Flores, a man nicknamed The Iceman, was the perfect figure for the chillest beer to champion.

We proceeded to film a TV spot showcasing Tom’s chill personality, creating a petition, launching a limited-edition can that sold out, driving a truck with fan tweets around the home of the Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, and even carving a bust of The Iceman made out of ice. And then we got lucky. Tom Flores finally got his gold jacket and bust. Immortalized forever in football history. The man fully deserved to get in on his merit alone, but I’d like to think we had a small part in that. And I think he agrees. When we called him to congratulate him for finally getting in, he told us, “Thank you for the campaign. You made my life.” Of course, he was the one making ours—by participating so gracefully in our campaign and for breaking the barriers he did to begin with.